


Furry Little Thing Called Love

by raug_moss



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-03
Updated: 2014-04-05
Packaged: 2018-01-11 00:38:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1166522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raug_moss/pseuds/raug_moss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a series of completely unpredictable and unexpected events, Regina and Emma are forced to re-evaluate their feelings for each other. Oh, and there's a cat somewhere in the story too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Love's Story

„Emma you have to find Love!“

Mary-Margaret burst into the station, breathing as if she had just run a marathon.

The sheriff slowly lowered her boots from atop her desk to the floor while setting down the newspaper she’d been holding.

“Uhh…alright? But Storybrooke is not exactly filled with potential candidates you know…”

Emma spoke slowly, considering how she was going to calm her roommate down without actually crushing her girlish notion of true love.

“What? No. I mean you have to find my kitty, his name is Love. I think he must have escaped through a window, I can’t find him anywhere.”

Emma stared disbelievingly at her roommate.

“Since when do you have a kitty? And why in all the world did you give him that name? Poor thing.”

“I’ll have you know that Love is a beautiful name and also suits him quite well. You’d know that had you seen him. Oh and David gave him to me yesterday when I went to visit him at the animal shelter.”

Emma raised an eyebrow inquiringly but Mary-Margaret only blushed and gestured with her hands for the sheriff to get up.

“Not what you think.”

“Is it? Then what am I thinking?”

“Emma! Please, find Love. He might be in danger, he’s too small to be on his own.”

“And how do you propose I go about finding a cat in this town? He could literally be anywhere.”

“At least try? Please?”

Mary-Margaret looked at her pleadingly, her lower lip almost trembling.

“Alright fine.”

The sheriff huffed quietly and got up. She stretched her arms above her head contemplatively before grabbing her blue leather jacket.

“Since there isn’t really anything else going on I could drive around and look for him. Just describe him to me first.”

 

-#-#-#-

 

Of course Emma didn’t manage to find the cat. That would have been a small miracle all in and of itself. So naturally her roommate was crushed. The first animal she’d had in years and it ran away from her the very next day.

Emma attempted to cheer her up, saying that she could always get another one, but that made it only worse and from then on the sheriff tried to avoid the touchy subject.

She felt sort of bad, but then again it wasn’t her fault that she couldn’t locate a tiny animal in a comparatively large town. Maybe it had found a new owner already, if it was really as cute as Mary-Margaret had claimed. 

 

It had been yet another uneventful day when Emma left the sheriff’s station with a bottle of soda in one hand and her phone in the other. She was about to inquire whether Mary-Margaret had decided to cook or if she should pick up their usual from Granny’s for them, when something small and dark dashed across the street in front of her.  
She looked up and saw a darkish-golden backside along with a tail disappear into the next bush.

“You can’t be serious…”

She stopped and stared at the bush. Suddenly a small head poked out through the thick green leaves, large yellow eyes regarding her curiously. One ear black and one in that weird golden color, which then mixed - just as Mary-Margaret had said.  
Emma snapped her phone shut and put the soda bottle down on a bench nearby before she started creeping toward the bush.

“Kitty, kitty… here kitty,” she cooed but the cat only looked slightly more alarmed.

She crouched down and rubbed her thumb across the pads of her other fingers.

“Come here kitty. I won’t hurt you.”

Suddenly interested the little animal took a hesitant step forward. Sniffing the air the cat made several more steps toward Emma.

“That’s a good kitty, so good.”

Slowly shuffling closer she raised her hands and got ready to make her move. But in the last second the cat decided that he didn’t like Emma as much as she apparently seemed to like him and turned around to race back toward the bush.

“Shit! Damn!”

The sheriff scrambled back to her feet and ran after the cat. Of course it was much faster than her but Love stopped every now and then to check whether the crazy human was still chasing him.

 

That is how it came about that the Sheriff of Storybrooke chased a cat through almost half the town.

The hunter in her had come to life and the only thing she still wanted was to catch that kitty once and for all.

She lost sight of him a few times but always managed to catch up again. If she didn’t know any better she would’ve thought that he was toying with her, leading her every which way, back and forth through town.When Emma had finally cornered him against a hedge she already saw herself successfully carrying the prickly animal back to Mary-Margaret. But Love was way smarter than she had given him credit for.

Instead of trying to outrun her, he simply dashed headfirst into the hedge, forcing Emma to do the same. Of course the lithe body of a kitten fit through the tiny branches much better than the one of a five foot eight human, and so Emma got unspectacularly stuck in the hedge for a few moments until she managed to wriggle herself through.

She crawled forward on her knees, panting and coughing.

“Look what the cat has dragged in this time.”

The sweet sing-song voice full of malice was so uncomfortably familiar that Emma shivered, already knowing what she would find when looking up.

It surprised her however, that when she did, Regina was safely holding on to the little black-golden cat.

“You found Love!”

Two perfectly shaped eyebrows rose to a pale smooth forehead.

“Have you gone completely mad now Sheriff? Is that it? Shall I call Dr. Hopper, or better yet the local mental house?”

Emma scowled. She knew her hair was sticking up crazily with little leaves and branches completing the look. Maybe she looked a little bit insane in that moment, but still, there was absolutely no need to be so acidic about it.

 

Emma regarded the mayor in her tight gray pencil skirt and blazer standing there in her backyard. She was slowly scratching the little cat’s chest while he rubbed his head on her other hand contentedly. He purred quietly and Emma’s frown only deepened. Of course the kitten would favor someone like the mayor if it didn’t come to her in the first place. They were polar opposites after all.

Emma finally had a mind to get up from her knees when the silence became too uncomfortable.

“I was merely doing my job.”

She brushed dirt and who knew what else off her knees and straightened her jacket.

“Is that so? Belongs harassing unsuspecting citizens and their pets to the job description now? I don’t think so.”

“I’m not harassing… wait, you think Love belongs to you?”

Regina looked downright insulted as she stared at Emma.

“Excuse me?”

The sheriff made a vague gesture with her hand toward the cat.

“His name is Love, he ran away from his owner a little while back.”

“He appeared in my garden three days ago…”

The mayor narrowed her eyes.

“What infantile mind would give such a name… no, let me guess, it belongs to Miss Blanchard.”

Regina rolled her eyes and pressed her lips together in obvious displeasure.

Emma half-shrugged and smirked.

“She thought it suited him.”

“Yes well, I really have something better to do with my time than discussing pet names with you Sheriff Swan.”

Suddenly even less acquiescing than before she held Love out to Emma, who took a hesitant step closer. The cat hissed hostilely and squirmed in the mayor’s grasp.

“I don’t think he likes me very much.”

Emma snatched her fingers back when tiny claws tried to scratch her.

“Who could blame him?”

Regina sighed and pointedly ignored the sheriff’s glare.

“Well I suppose Miss Blanchard will have to come and get the cat by herself then, if she is so very fond of it.”

 

There was something in Regina’s expression as well as in her voice that Emma couldn’t place. But when she saw how the mayor cradled the cat against her chest again she realized that Regina must’ve developed some sort of affection for the small animal.

It was almost… cute.

She smiled and cocked her head to the side.

“I could ask her if she doesn’t mind sharing.”

Regina looked at her as if she had just suggested they share the same toothbrush.

“What would be the point in that? I have no interest in this cat, and Henry is more of a dog person than anything else. By all means I’m not interested in feeding another hungry mouth.”

 

Although Regina was trying to convince Emma of the opposite, she knew that the mayor had a soft spot for the tiny creature. Given Love was really adorable but she would’ve expected the unapproachable woman to keep a snake for a pet, or at least something equally less furry.

“Well I’ll leave him in your hands then until Mary-Margaret can pick him up.”

“Fine. Now if you would be so kind to leave my property I’d be most delighted.”

Emma snorted quietly but nodded.

“Sure. Thanks for keeping an eye on him.”

 

She walked past the mayor who was still stroking the cat’s head like an evil villain in a Bond movie.

 

-#-#-#-

 

“Emma! Emma! Are you there? Emma!”

The walkie crackled with noise as Emma rolled onto the stomach and groaned quietly. She squinted at the digital clock beside her bed and, seeing that it was three in the morning, groaned again.

She groped for the walkie and pressed the little button on its side in order for Henry to be able to hear her.

“Henry? What’s going on…? Do you know what time it is?”

“Emma! I think there is someone in our house!”

Suddenly she was wide awake, rolling onto her back and sitting up.

“What?!”

“I don’t know… but I think someone might have broken into our house.”

Henry was trying to speak as quietly as he could and Emma clearly detected the fear in his voice.

“Alright kid, lock the door to your room and I’ll be there in ten.”

The sheriff jumped out of bed and grabbed her jeans.

“I haven’t got a key.”

She was struggling with pulling the tight denim over her legs and, because it took too much time, eventually abandoned the pants and opted for tiny black shorts that were way too small to be called that.

“Then hide in the closet. Try to be quiet okay?”

“Okay.”

She heard some rustling and then there was only the static crackling of the walkie again.

 

It was fairly warm outside so Emma forwent the jacket and dashed to her car in only her tank top and shorts, gun in hand. She sped through deserted streets until she came to a halt in front of the mayoral mansion with screeching tires. She jumped out of the car and ran across the footpath up to the front door, her gun securely clasped in both hands and held off to the side.

The door was locked and it didn’t look like anyone had tried to break in. So she quickly and as silently as possible rounded the house to find the patio doors standing ajar. Emma sucked in a breath and slipped inside the house, ready to defend the mayor and her son from any malevolent criminal who dared to try harm them. There was a movement to her right and Emma raised her gun.

“Stop right where you are! Hands where I can see them!”

Suddenly the light was switched on and Emma needed a moment to adjust her eyes to the brightness.

“Sheriff Swan! What the hell are you doing?!”

Emma turned to see Regina standing in the entrance to her living room. She was wearing a blueish white silken knee-length sleeveless nightgown and her hair was slightly disheveled from sleep. That however did nothing to detract from the menacing glare directed at Emma. Love meowed loudly, his pupils only tiny black slits in the bright light of the room. He sat on the living room table and watched Emma how she pointed her gun at him.

“I thought… Henry said someone broke into the house… I…”

Regina immediately turned on her heel and disappeared toward the stairs that led up to the upper level of the house.

“There is no unwanted person here except you Sheriff Swan, that much I can assure you,” she called over her shoulder angrily.

Emma watched her go and took a few deep breaths, all the adrenaline leaving her body in one swoop. She put her gun down on the table, where Love sniffed on it distastefully, and dropped onto the couch with a long-suffering sigh. Closing her eyes she willed the beating of her heart back to a normal rate, finally enjoying the way relief flooded her system.

She sat there in silence for quite a while and was only jostled out of her little nap when Regina spoke.

“That is hardly appropriate attire for catching burglars, now is it?”

Emma blinked her eyes open and saw the mayor sitting in an armchair across from her. The nightgown had moved up to her thighs because she had crossed her legs elegantly, balancing a hand on her naked knee. The sheriff swallowed thickly before speaking.

“I came here as quickly as I could. Sorry I forgot my shining armor. Is Henry alright?”

Regina nodded, simply ignoring Emma’s little jab.

“The cat threw one of my vases off the shelf and he must have assumed that someone was in the house, trying to rob us. He is asleep now.”

“Alright, good.”

 

Emma tried really hard not to stare. Although Regina was wearing nothing but a nightgown she still looked breathtakingly stunning. Maybe it was even because of wearing so little, but still. The amount of skin on display made the sheriff’s fingers twitch nervously.

Of course she wasn’t blind and had noticed that the mayor could not possibly be described with such a word as attractive, but she had always managed to keep those thoughts so deeply buried that they had barely bothered her anymore.

Only every now and then deep into the night had she allowed herself to indulge in some fantasies, but that was so incredibly private that it wasn’t even funny anymore should anyone ever find out about her attraction to her son’s adoptive mother.

Emma cringed at her train of thought and realized that, despite her efforts, she had been staring.

Oddly enough Regina hadn’t called her out on it and only sat there in contemplative silence while she regarded the sheriff in return.

“I’m surprised you made it here that quickly. Henry told me he only contacted you ten minutes ago.”

“Yeah well speed limits only make sense when there is a sheriff who makes sure everyone sticks to them.”

“You realize that you possibly could have gotten yourself killed.”

Regina crinkled her brow at Emma’s carelessness.

“The streets are empty at night anyway, and if I had come too late I could have gotten you and Henry killed instead. I’d rather take the risk.”

Emma hid a jaw-breaking yawn behind her hand, completely missing the perplexed look on the mayor’s face.

“I better get going, it’s late and I won’t keep you up any longer.”

Although she was loathe to bring the only halfway civil conversation they’d ever had to an end, she was so incredibly tired that she would probably only do something that she’d eventually regret if she didn’t leave.

Regina looked so crazily gorgeous without her make-up and perfect hair that Emma grudgingly had to accept that she would probably even look fantastic when she’d crawled through a hedge, with branches and leaves all over her.

“Suck it up Swan,” she mumbled under her breath and got up from the couch.

She stretched her arms above her head, her back muscles realigning themselves with quiet protest.

“I’ll just be on my way then…”

She looked down at Regina to give her a friendly smile upon parting but found chocolate brown eyes undeniably glued to her exposed legs. She cleared her throat and watched Regina’s eyes snap up to her face with amusement. If the mayor was flustered she didn’t show it.

“Sheriff.”

She nodded curtly and got up as well. Emma raised her eyebrows but decided not to push any further. There would be a time and place for that eventually. She couldn’t help the smile that stayed firmly in place when she walked back to her car. The door was still open and she simply plopped down behind the steering wheel before driving off.

 

Halfway back to Mary-Margaret’s apartment she suddenly remembered that she’d left her gun on the table of the mayor’s living room.

“Ah shit!”

She turned the car in the middle of the street with a sigh. There was absolutely no way she would risk Henry finding the damn thing in the morning. Regina would have her head for that. Literally. She parked in front of the house yet again, got out and walked around to the back, hoping that the patio doors would still be unlocked.

It was nonsense really, that she had assumed someone could have broken into the mayor’s house. Aside from a few drunkards and lost animals there was close to no crime happening in Storybrooke. Most of the people didn’t even lock their doors - that is how boring the job of the sheriff was.

 Emma smirked in silent triumph when the patio door opened noiselessly. She found the gun right where she had left it and, after picking it up, turned to leave the house. But a quiet voice stopped her mid-movement.

It was clearly Regina’s but she couldn’t make out any words.

Despite better judgement Emma tip-toed through the living room and toward the study from where the voice seemed to come.

 

“I think I’ll do miss you.”

Emma poked her head around the corner and found Regina sitting on the leather couch, Love spread across her lap in a contented sprawl.

“There really is no one in this town who feels comfortable in my presence, so it’s nice for a change I suppose,” Regina continued, completely oblivious that she was being watched.

“But I can appreciate the irony that it is she who will take you away from me.”

A tiny sad smile graced the mayor’s lips.

“Same old, same old.”

 

Emma’s eyebrows furrowed with confusion. What was Regina talking about?

Was she referring to Henry and her?

 

Despite having thought about it, she had decided that she didn’t want to take Henry away from Regina. She was strict yes, and a bitch to everyone else, but she truly and honestly loved Henry, that much Emma could tell for certain.

Somehow she felt something akin to compassion welling up within her for the other woman. Although Regina would never admit it, she was simply lonely, and Emma could most certainly emphasize with that.

She watched how Regina lovingly stroked Love’s fur with gentle fingers, imagining those hands to be incredibly soft. That thought actually made her realize how absurd the entire situation was. Regina only needed to raise her head to see widened blueish-gray eyes gazing at her. Quickly Emma turned on her heel and tried to sneak back to the living room to slip out of the house unnoticed.

Luckily enough no one saw her as she left the mayoral mansion and returned to her car.

She felt too safe in the confines of her Bug to realize that the noise of the engine would have most likely given away her presence.

 

-#-#-#-


	2. Buried

“What do you mean you _lost_ him?”

Regina was pressing her lips into a firm line and that was never a good sign. Emma still had time to explain herself until the vein in the mayor’s forehead started to pulse in rhythm with her anger, because then it was most definitely too late for any excuses.

“I got out of the car and turned to take the cage, and through an unfortunate series of events he escaped?”

“Is that a question? Sheriff Swan, you are dealing with a cat, not Houdini. Had I known that you are completely overwhelmed with the simple task of the transporting an animal from one place to another, I would have let someone else do it.”

After Mary-Margaret had straight out refused to pick up Love from the mayor Emma had begrudgingly agreed to bring him to her instead, only this time with a whole lot of plastic in between her and those claws.

“Well, it can’t be changed now. So I think I might know in which direction he went and I hoped you would help me find him since he is obviously more inclined to come to you.”

Emma turned hopeful eyes to the mayor who crossed her arms before her chest defiantly.

“I think you are mistaking me for some sort of animal catcher. I am not going to crawl through bushes and hedges all day long only because you haven’t managed to keep a cat locked in its cage.”

Emma rolled her eyes and impatiently shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

“I am simply asking you to walk with me for a bit to see if he comes back on his own.”

“My time is precious Sheriff Swan.”

“So is that cat.”

“Not to me.”

“So you don’t care if he has fallen down into a well and is drowning miserably?”

Regina narrowed her eyes.

“There is no such thing as a well here.”

 “That’s not the point.”

Emma raked a hand through her blonde tresses and looked around, her eyes searching the bushes nearby.

“Fine. If you don’t want to help I’ll do it by myself. Can’t be that hard, right? Already found him once.”

“I found him, to be exact.”

Emma grimaced and turned away from Regina who still stood there scowling with her arms crossed.

“Technicalities. Have a good day Madame Mayor,” she called over shoulder.

There seemed to be no use in arguing with Regina and of course Emma knew that she did not like being left standing like that in the middle of the sidewalk. It was the little things that made her day, like annoying the shit out of the mayor just a tiny bit more.

“Sheriff Swan!”

Emma grinned, but wiped the smirk off her face before turning around yet again.

“Yes?”

“I have an hour to spare before a council meeting, no more, I hope that is clear.”

She fluffed her hair with a few flicks of her hand and strutted down the sidewalk past Emma.

“Can’t have the townspeople thinking that their Mayor is not interested in the well-being of the city’s cats?” Emma inquired cheekily.

“Exactly.”

Regina had reacted far too quickly to the offered explanation and they both noticed it.

 

Together they ventured in the direction Emma had seen Love take off. But naturally there was no sign of the cat. Neither of them was remotely trained in the art of tracking animals, let alone small ones, so their endeavor was seemingly an overall lost cause.  
Not too far from the last house of their little journey down the street stood an abandoned building that had once been some sort of small factory.

The building was already destined to be taken down in the not too distant future and Regina paid it no mind as she looked around. Emma however made her way across the street to inspect the ramshackle building a bit more closely. Sure enough there was the faint sound of pitiful meowing coming from within.

“I think I might have found him,” Emma called and, not heeding any of Regina’s warnings regarding the stability of the old factory, moved closer until she realized that the sound was coming through a broken basement window.

She knelt down and peered into the darkness below. She couldn’t really see anything, but the meowing came most certainly from down there.

“I’m gonna go in and get him,” Emma announced.

“Most certainly not. The entire thing could come crashing down over your head before you even knew it,” Regina responded, now standing behind the sheriff.

Her entire posture was rigid and she was obviously surprised by her own words.

“It’s fine. I’ll be quick.”

Emma was already moving to sit down to slip through the cellar window feet first when Regina bent down and grabbed her shoulder.

“I will not have you force me to tell Henry that you got yourself killed over saving a cat.”

“Listen it’s not a big deal, let me just…” 

Suddenly the earth beneath them moved and Emma squeaked in surprise as she slid forward and through the window. Regina completely lost her footing and, as concrete and sand underneath her feet gave away, followed Emma involuntarily right down into the darkness.

 

-#-#-#-

 

“Ugh… Regina? Are you okay?”

Emma tried to brush some sand off her upper body and legs while looking around. Everything was covered with a thin layer of dust and sand, even the body of the mayor who lay unmoving in a corner of the little cellar.

“Regina!”

The sheriff scrambled to her knees and crawled over to the prone form.

“Oh no, no no no, don’t do this. Come on!”

Regina lay on her stomach, facing away from Emma and the blonde grabbed the mayor’s shoulders and pulled her around and into her lap. Regina’s face was dirtied with dust and blood that seeped from a small cut on her forehead. Emma smoothed some black hair out of her face and examined the wound. Luckily it was only superficial and not particularly wide.

Carefully shaking the unconscious woman, she kept on urging her to wake up, but Regina’s eyes remained closed.

“Shit. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen. Come on now, you have to wake up, for Henry you know? He’d be crushed if you didn’t.”

Of course she was rambling, Emma knew she was, but she couldn’t think of anything else to do, feeling so incredibly helpless with an unresponsive Regina cradled against her.

“Okay, I’m going to get you out of here, just hang on for a bit.”

Emma looked around the darkened cellar. They were sitting on a pile of sand and concrete and above them the cellar window was barely visible anymore since parts of the wall of the crumbling building had almost completely blocked it. Sure enough there was the small head of Love poking through the tiny opening. He meowed loudly and then disappeared from sight.

“Great! Just fucking great!”

Of course the cat would have managed to get out of the cellar before the building came crashing down, but unfortunately the two humans were not as lucky.

Emma carefully propped Regina against the nearest wall.

“Let me check if there is a way out.”

Naturally there was no sense in talking to the mayor since she still hadn’t regained consciousness, but Emma was so damn nervous that she needed to focus on saving their lives instead of fearing that Regina could be seriously injured. The cellar was halfway filled with rubble from their little slide down into it, and apart from a few abandoned shelves and boxes there was nothing in there that would’ve been in any way useful.

The door at the far end of the room which could’ve possibly led them out of the cellar was locked from the other side and wouldn’t budge even as Emma threw her entire weight against it. It was made of metal and there was no way she could’ve kicked it out of its hinges. The sheriff panted quietly after several attempts to open the door with brute force.

Her shoulder was hurting quite terribly but the frantic beating of her heart drowned out the pain for the time being.

 

Regina then groaned quietly and Emma was beside her in the blink of an eye.

“Regina? Can you hear me? Are you alright?”

“How could I possibly be alright when my head feels like it’s about to burst into pieces at any moment?!”

The mayor pressed the heels of her hands against her temples in an attempt to get the pain under control.

“What happened?” she asked as she looked around.

“We’re sort of trapped in here,” Emma admitted quietly.

She had reached out to Regina on instinct, but was now demurely resting her hands in her lap.

“I told you to stay away and all you do is go and trap us in here!”

“Oh it’s my fault now?!”

“Obviously!”

Emma clenched her jaw and moved away from the mayor. She wasn’t really offended and the other woman was usually much crueler in lashing out with words, but she was saddened by the fact that Regina thought she would intentionally bring them into such a situation.

“I didn’t think the ground would cave in… how was I supposed to know this would happen?”

Regina must have heard the defeated tone in the sheriff’s voice, or maybe she just wasn’t in the shape for it, but she refrained from pushing the issue.

“No changing it now. So how do we get out of here?” she asked instead.

Emma sighed.

“I have no idea. The door is most definitely locked and we won’t fit through the window up there either.”

The sheriff struggled to her feet and groaned quietly when a sudden pain shot from her shoulder across her entire back.

“What is it Sheriff?”

“I’m going to see if there is anything in those boxes that could be of help.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Emma only glanced at Regina who still sat rigidly leaning against the wall. By falling through the window and roughly landing on her back Emma had probably hurt herself quite a bit more than she was willing to admit at the moment.

 

She was about to open the first box when suddenly the building above them shifted yet again and parts of the wall that had previously blocked the cellar window came crashing down. Regina moved as quickly as she could but barely managed to escape one large block of stone that threatened to crush her. Emma took a few long strides and wrapped her arm around the mayor’s waist to help her move out of the danger zone toward the locked metal door.

It seemed oddly familiar and Emma clearly remembered how she had dragged an injured Regina out of the burning building after the explosion. There was a loud crack and the ceiling directly above them split in half. Emma’s eyes widened with alarm before she pushed Regina forcefully toward the door.

 

-#-#-#-

 

The entire thing stopped as abruptly as it had begun and left Regina panting heavily with her back pressed against the door. Shocked brown eyes darted around the now completely dark room. She couldn’t see a single thing but that wasn’t the most worrisome part about it.

“Sheriff Swan?”

When there was no answer something akin to panic rose within her.

“Sheriff Swan, I swear if you don’t answer me right now…!”

“Calm down Regina,” Emma cut in with a strained voice.

“I’m still alive if that’s what you’re worried about…unngh…”

“Where are you?”

Regina was holding her hands out in front of her, trying to find out what exactly had happened by means of touching what she couldn’t see.

“I’m down here…”

Emma sounded strange and the mayor couldn’t help but feel alarmed and slightly frightened.

“Then get up Sheriff!”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?!”

Emma groaned again quietly but obviously in pain.

“Because there is a piece of wall crushing my leg and I can’t fucking get it out!”

“Oh.”

Regina started to take tiny steps forward.

 “Sorry, language, I know.”

“Well in this case I believe you’re entitled to it.”

Emma chuckled but it turned into a dry cough a moment later. Regina could clearly hear her taking a deep breath before speaking.

 “Are you alright though?”

Regina nodded, knowing full well that Emma wouldn’t be able to see it anyway.

“Yes I’m fine.”

 

Slowly the mayor took small steps forward until she was somewhere in the vicinity of the sheriff and dropped down to her knees. She fumbled around until her hand landed on a warm thigh.

“Do you think there’s any chance to free your leg?”

Even though she wasn’t keen on doing it she moved her hand down and found a large block of stone resting right on top of Emma’s knee. Trying to push it upward and away was completely fruitless because the block was way too heavy to be lifted by either of them.

“Don’t think so,” Emma mumbled.

Regina knew that the sheriff was in great pain and although she didn’t think Emma too capable she had to admit that she admired her ability to deal with it. Not that she cared whether this nuisance of a woman died in here or not. In fact it would be a rather welcome turn of events should it so happen that she lost her life in an accident that had been her fault in the first place. Right?

But Henry would be devastated. It would break his little heart if Emma was suddenly gone, and she couldn’t do that to him, could she?

“Alright, we need to think of something to get us out of here. Have you got your cell phone with you?” Regina asked and checked the pockets of her coat, coming up empty.

“No I left it in the car. Forgot to take it with me when Love escaped,” Emma answered.

“That damned miserable cat.”

If it wasn’t for that furry little creature they would have never gotten into this mess.

 

It was slowly starting to get quite hot and Regina took off her coat. She didn’t see Emma but still managed to reach out and touch her shoulder to gently push her to lie down. She bunched the coat together and placed it underneath the sheriff’s head.

The gesture was rather unexpected for both of them. 

“Thanks…”

Emma sounded quite sleepy but Regina slapped her uninjured thigh none too gently.

“You need to stay awake Sheriff.”

“I am! No need to be so rough.”

“I’m going to find something that I can use as pressure bandage for your leg,” Regina announced and rose to her feet, swaying slightly from the sudden return of the headache she had been able to ignore until then.

 

She started to rummage through the boxes that were now spread all over the floor. It was a fairly difficult task since she couldn’t see a single thing but she eventually figured out that most boxes were filled with old linen clothing and shoes.

She vaguely remembered the factory producing clothes at some point in time but she had closed it down after three years or so. Taking a pair of pants she knelt down beside Emma and fumbled around until she had managed to wrap the cloth around her thigh as tightly as possible. Of course she had not really an idea of what she was doing, but she knew that she had to prevent Emma from losing too much blood.

 

“God fucking shit that hurts…!” Emma hissed between clenched teeth.

“I know. Try to think of something else.”

Of course it was lame, she knew that, but Regina had nothing else to offer. She couldn’t help Emma in any other way, and for some odd reason that made her feel sick to the stomach. 

 

They sat there in contemplative silence after Regina had also tried to open the door by pushing against it or pulling on the handle.

There was really nothing in the room that could possibly help them to get out of this forsaken cellar. Emma had been suspiciously quiet and the mayor kept on asking her random questions to see whether she was still awake. 

“I knew you came back that night.”

She heard Emma wriggling on the ground, presumably to look in the direction from where the mayor’s voice was coming.

“What do you mean?”

“When Henry thought someone broke into our house. I know you came back after you left, I heard your car outside. Care to explain why?”

“I… uh… I might have forgotten my gun…”

“What?! You actually came into my house twice without being invited? In the middle of the night I might add.”

“Regina, can we please save this discussion for another time?”

The mayor huffed.

“Fine.”

 

After a while she could clearly hear Emma drawing in a shuddering breath.

“Sheriff?”

“Y-yes?”

Emma’s voice was raspy and she sounded rather breathless. Without thinking about it Regina moved over to her and reached out. Her hand landed on the blonde’s chest.

“What are you…?” Emma began but fell silent when Regina’s fingers traveled upward, along her neck and jaw to her cheek.

The mayor frowned deeply when her fingertips traced the wet trails on Emma’s chin up to her cheekbones, her suspicion confirmed.

“You are in great pain.”

It wasn’t a question so Emma didn’t bother to answer. 

There was no way in telling how much time had passed since they’d been trapped in the cellar. So somewhere in between the ceiling caving in and starting irregular conversation with Emma, Regina had decided that she couldn’t let the sheriff die down here, or else Henry would be devastated and forever and ever believe her to be the Evil Queen. 

Regina stared into the darkness and mindlessly began stroking her thumb back and forth across the sheriff’s cheek. She knew that if Emma hadn’t pushed her away when the ceiling had come crashing down she could have been the one now buried beneath tons of rock and sand.

She owed Emma her life.

Again.

 

Why kept this woman risking her life in order to save hers? There was no love lost between them, quite the opposite in fact. Every time they were in each other’s vicinity they started arguing, verbally and sometimes even physically, and yet here they were.  
Regina had to admit though that her life had become far more interesting ever since Emma Swan had showed up on her doorstep.

She enjoyed being the Mayor of this town well enough, but where was the fun when no one dared to antagonize her? A small smile spread across her lips. It had come so far that she even sought out the Sheriff only to start yet another argument about unfinished paperwork that wasn’t really important.

“And here I thought I hated you,” Regina mumbled under her breath.

Emma had turned her head to lean into the mayor’s gentle caress but now jerked away as if realizing for the first time that they were actually touching. Regina took her hand away and rested it on her thigh instead.

“What?” Emma asked.

“Nothing. I was just…”

The mayor had to clear her throat before continuing to speak because it was getting quite hot and stifling in the cellar.

“Oh god…”

Widened brown eyes stared at the spot where Emma was resting beside her in the darkness.

“Regina. What?!”

“I hate to break it to you Emma but there is absolutely no light in here and that means there is also no air coming in either.”

The mayor tried to sound as calm as she possibly could while it dawned on her that no air meant that they were not going to stay conscious, let alone alive, for that much longer.

“You just called me Emma,” was seemingly all the sheriff could think of to say in that moment.

 

-#-#-#-


	3. Running Out

Sweat was running down Regina’s back, making her silken blouse cling to her skin uncomfortably. It had gotten so unbearably hot and stifling in the cellar that she’d taken off her pumps and opened a few buttons of her blouse. Emma wouldn’t be able to see her in the complete darkness anyway so there was really no need for any modesty.

She had also taken off the sheriff’s leather jacket and one of her boots, and even though she tried to be careful about it she’d caused Emma to cry out in pain. 

She knew the blonde was still trying to keep her agony to herself, but the reason why was unintelligible for Regina. Since they were both trapped in a cellar with air running out quickly, there really seemed to be no need for keeping up a façade. Naturally Emma didn’t want to appear weak in front of the woman who had repeatedly tried to bully her out of town, she wouldn’t have wanted to either, but there was no point in pretending anymore. 

The mayor had pulled her legs close to her body and wrapped her arms around her knees. She was devastated by the thought that Henry would, within mere hours, have lost both of his mothers at once.

“We’ll get out of here,” Emma said as if reading Regina’s mind.

The sheriff’s voice was hoarse and laced with the strain of speaking.

“And what makes you think so Emma?” Regina inquired, knowing that the use of her first name would cause a smirk to appear on the blonde’s lips.

Certain enough the smile was audible when Emma answered.

“You said you had a council meeting to attend and I’m pretty damn sure that they’ll come looking for you if you don’t show up.”

“But how will anyone find us in here? There is absolutely no reason why I would’ve ventured into this building, let alone its cellar.”

“Maybe they’ll see that it’s halfway collapsed and figure out that we might be in here?”

‘I doubt it’, was the mayor’s immediate reaction, but she didn’t voice it.

“Maybe,” she answered instead.

 Silence enveloped them once again and the only sounds were the sand and rock shifting above them from time to time and Emma’s ragged breathing. Regina wiped the back of her hand across her forehead and plucked at her blouse to keep it from sticking to her front.

“You shouldn’t have done it, you know,” she eventually said.

“What?”

Regina heard Emma shifting on the ground, presumably to find a better position as much as she could with her leg still trapped and crushed. Maybe conversation would distract her a bit from the pain.

“If you hadn’t pushed me out of the way you wouldn’t be in this state right now,” Regina eventually responded.

“Yeah and you would most likely be dead.”

“But…”

“No. There is no but, Regina, or do you honestly think I would let you die just like that?”

“I… guess not. I… thank you, Emma.”

“Welcome. And maybe you’ll keep that in mind next time you decide to let me file all those cases in one day.”

Regina smiled and shook her head. How could this woman joke around even in the face of death? She was quite a remarkable person, that was for certain, and maybe Regina would eventually come to appreciate the presence of Emma Swan in her town. But perhaps she was already well past that point?

Breathing was becoming increasingly more difficult until Regina could feel her chest constrict with panic. There was no way to get out, there was no way to call for help, and although she wasn’t a stranger to live-threatening situations, this was far more serious than ever before. A lifetime ago she would have possessed the means to get them out of the cellar with a mere summoning of her powers and a flick of her wrist. But here, in this world, magic as such did not exist and therefore would not be of any help anyway.

In that moment she wished so desperately for her magic to return as never before in those twenty-eight years.

 “I don’t want Henry to be alone.”

Emma sniffed quietly and slammed her fist onto the ground beneath her.

“Neither do I. But it seems as if we have failed him…” the mayor answered.

 The air became so thin that Regina felt light-headed. Her lungs struggled to suck in the last remains of oxygen as she moved to lie down beside Emma. The sheriff blindly groped around until she found Regina’s hand and entwined their fingers.

“I am sorry.”

“It is not your fault.”

Emma pressed their hands together tightly and Regina moved to her side, carefully resting her head on the sheriff’s shoulder.

“I…just wanted you to know… that I think you’re a good mother and that I… don’t… hate… you…”

Emma’s words were barely audible and the mayor had already closed her eyes, waiting for the unconsciousness she knew was to come.

“Me too… Emma…” 

The sheriff’s head rolled to the side and her cheek came to rest atop a crown of black hair. 

-#-#-#-

 

When the door burst open the air was sucked into the cellar so forcefully that dust and sand whirled all around the place, blocking the view of the men standing in the hallway.

“They’re here! Hurry up!” 

They managed to drag an unconscious Regina away from the unmoving form of the sheriff to carry her out to the ambulance. She came to herself when there was a faint pain on the back of her hand.

“Emma? Where is… Emma?”

“Try to stay calm Madame Mayor, we’re going to take care of you,” an unfamiliar voice answered.

“But I… but…”

She was way too delirious and exhausted to make sense of anything, and yet her mind could only return to the one question: was Emma alright? Darkness was tearing at the edges of her consciousness and despite her best efforts Regina didn’t manage to stay awake to have that question answered. 

The next thing she remembered was waking up in a hospital bed, wearing what must have been the ugliest hospital gown the world had ever been forced to see. She felt awfully week and quite thirsty. Luckily enough there was a cup of water waiting right beside her bed. If she could only reach it.

Her arms and legs felt so incredibly heavy, it was irritating. A door to her right suddenly opened and Henry burst into the room. His entire face was one large smile when he saw that his mother was awake.

“Mom!”

He ran over to the bed and wrapped her into an awkward half-hug. Regina, through pure willpower, forced her hand to move to touch the boy’s cheek.

“Henry.”

She smiled and sighed with relief. She was alive. She hadn’t failed him and there was an entire lifetime waiting for them to make it right.

“I was really worried about you! What were you doing in there anyway? You didn’t show up to your council meeting and they started looking for you. And the building is only a pile of stones now. You also hurt your head and the firemen said that you almost suffocated.”

She crinkled her brow as she tried to keep up with the load of information that was spurting out from her son.

“They shouldn’t have told you that, it’s not for an eleven year old child.”

“But mom…!”

“No buts. Still I am glad they found… us …”

Brown eyes widened and Henry stared at his mother alarmed.

“Are you okay mom?”

“Henry.”

She didn’t realize that her hand with which she was still cupping his cheek had started to shake.

“What happened to Em… Miss Swan?”

The boy’s face darkened and he suddenly looked endlessly sad. The mayor’s heart skipped a beat in that moment.

“She’s still not awake.”

And just like that her heart rate picked up again. Had either of them paid attention to the several machines she was attached to, they would’ve noticed the irregularities, but Regina was busy fighting back ridiculous tears of relief.

She didn’t cry. Ever.

 “I’m sure she will wake up soon Henry. Don’t worry. You know how stubborn Miss Swan can be.”

He nodded but still didn’t seem convinced.

“Who brought you here?”

“I’m stayed the day with Miss Blanchard. She wanted me to keep her company since Emma isn’t home either, I hope that’s okay…”

Of course it wasn’t. Her son wasn’t supposed to live with that woman under the same roof, and yet she had to hide her disdain behind a smile and nod.

“Of course. But it will only be a day or so and then you can come home with me.”

Henry beamed at that and nodded enthusiastically.

“Great! It’s sorta weird to live with a teacher you know. She always checks my homework right away…”

 Henry stayed with her until it was time for him to leave alongside Mary-Margaret. Regina thanked her tersely for taking care of Henry before they exited the room. There was no changing it now, she would have to make sure the doctors released her early the next morning so she could pick him up before school and return to normal daily life.

 

After sitting in her room for several unproductive minutes, listening to the beeping machines, she decided that she needed a change of scenery. Calling in a nurse she demanded to be released of the various tubes and needles.

The nurse wasn’t really willing to do as she commanded but after a few well-placed verbal threats and a glare she was on her feet and out of the room. Without actually having a sense of where she was going she inquired the whereabouts of the Sheriff from the next best nurse and then shuffled to a room at the end of the hospital corridor.Her body was sore and aching in various places from the fall into cellar. The small cut on her forehead and been stitched and was now covered with a ridiculously large white band-aid.

But she knew that she probably didn’t look even half as bad as Emma. Therefore she steeled her nerves by taking a deep breath before entering the sheriff’s room.  

As expected the blonde’s prone form lay unmoving on the pristinely white bed. There was a large cast around her entire right leg and she was attached to even more machines than Regina had been. Emma’s face was as pale as the pillow beneath her and her matted blonde hair was splayed around her head limply. There were also dark circles under her eyes that attested of what she had gone through.

Slowly Regina made her way over to the bed, careful to not make any sounds as if fearing that she could wake the slumbering woman. Her breath was leaving her in small shallow gasps as she stared down at Emma. It was oddly disconcerting to see the usually so lively and vibrant sheriff in such a state. There was a dull ache in her chest that had absolutely nothing to do with the several small cuts and bruises littering her body. 

She still remembered Emma’s words before the air had run out completely and somehow it was calming to know that Emma thought of her as a good mother. The fact that they didn’t really hate each other wasn’t that much of a revelation. She knew hatred, all of its manifestations, intimately, and would never mistake simple dislike, or annoyance, for pure all-consuming hate. 

Perching on the edge of the bed she slowly reached out and brushed one strand of blonde hair out of the unconscious woman’s face. The backs of her fingers caressed along Emma’s temple, coming to rest on a very prominent cheekbone.

“I’m sorry.”

She wasn’t entirely sure what exactly she was apologizing for and yet it felt right to say those words. Maybe she was sorry for having been so hostile toward her. But that was understandable, pretty much anyone would have reacted the same way if suddenly the birth mother of one’s own child appeared out of nowhere, right? But maybe she was sorry for never actually having thanked Emma for all the things she had done, like helping her out of the burning building or getting Henry out of the mine.

It seemed like Emma had brought far more than just problems and stress into her life, after all. A small smile played around the corners of the mayor’s mouth.It was certainly funny how she had started to look forward to her banters with the sheriff, and how Emma had slowly but steadily become an important part of her life without Regina actually consciously noticing it.

Now after almost losing her life and being forced to look truth in the eye, she was finally able to admit that she in fact did not hate Emma Swan as much as she had thought. But that was as far as she would go with confessing to the real nature of her feelings.

Sighing quietly she shook her head.

“Wake up soon.”

Without realizing what exactly she was doing she leaned down and pressed her lips against a smooth forehead, lingering just a little bit longer than was probably appropriate. The mayor blinked her eyes in surprise and straightened, her shoulders suddenly rigid. She quickly got up from the bed and smoothed her hands across the ugly hospital gown the same way she would have usually done with one of her skirts.

She turned and headed to the door when a weak voice caused her to halt mid-step.

“Not how I imagined our first kiss to be, but I’ll take what I can get.”

Emma’s voice was raspy and fairly weak but Regina still heard every single word. She tried to force the blood that was creeping up her neck and cheeks back with sheer strength of will before turning around.

“I wasn’t aware… that you are…”

Emma raised her head from the pillow and smirked.

“Awake? Yeah well, I was just curious what you were going to do.”

Regina’s lips pressed together in a frown.

“I am glad that you are having your fun Miss Swan.”

With that she turned back around and swiftly crossed the room.

“What? No! Regina wait! I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant… wait!”

The machines in the room started beeping frantically in rhythm with the sheriff’s accelerated heart rate. Emma pushed her elbows into the mattress and struggled to sit up, a pained grunt leaving her throat. Regina spun back around and with a few quick strides was back beside the bed.

“What are you doing?! Lie down, you’ll only hurt yourself!”

She put both hands against the sheriff’s shoulders and was met with little resistance when she pushed her back onto the bed. Before she could remove her hands however Emma covered them with her own.

“Regina, I wasn’t trying to play you. I’m sorry.”

Taking a deep breath the mayor nodded.

“Alright, you may be forgiven this little transgression. I suppose the medication is causing you to be even more intolerable than usual. Now stay put and rest, is that understood?”

“Yes Madame Mayor.”

Emma smiled, her were eyes already closing with exhaustion, and Regina couldn’t help but return the smile. She waited until Emma’s breathing had finally evened out and left the room. 

She returned to her own bed and, sitting propped up against a few pillows, flexed her fingers in deep thought. They had gotten out of this alive and somehow something had most definitely changed. There was something in the air, an expectation or maybe tension, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that something big was heading her way.

“Nonsense,” she mumbled and shook her head, clearing it of any traitorous thoughts.

She herself had created this town and held ultimate control over everything within it. The only exception being one annoying, persistent and outrageously brave sheriff.

 

 -#-#-#-


	4. Hospitality and a Jacket

“I’ll be right back!” Henry called and hurried down the hospital corridor.

“But please hurry up Henry, I’ve got to get back…”

Regina sighed when the boy had already run out of sight before she could even finish her sentence.  
Somehow he had managed to talk her into taking him to the hospital so he could visit Emma. She had only agreed to it because otherwise he would have done it behind her back anyway.

Regina herself had been released about a week ago, after only two days in the hospital.  
The sheriff however needed quite a bit more time to recover, considering how badly she had been injured.  
Now she was standing in the hallway in front of the sheriff’s room, waiting for her son to get back from the bathroom.  
To her utmost displeasure the door suddenly opened, revealing a certain pesky elementary school teacher.

 

“Oh Madame Mayor, what are you doing here?”

Regina scowled and narrowed her eyes.

“I think it is not overtly surprising when the Mayor of a town needs to check whether her Sheriff will be able to return to the job soon or if a permanent replacement is needed,” she answered coldly with a sneer.  
Mary-Margaret, seemingly already sensing another intrigue, squared her shoulders and raised her chin.

“Emma needs time to recover and it would be really unfair if she lost her position as Sheriff just because she had an accident.”

“I do believe that this is solely my concern, so if you would excuse me now.”

Without acknowledging the pixie-haired woman any further Regina strutted into the room and slammed the door shut into Mary-Margaret’s stunned face.  
The smirk smug on her lips, however, disappeared when she realized that she was now alone with Emma - the one person she had successfully avoided for the entire past week.

“Regina?”

Slowly she turned around to face the occupant of the hospital bed, and what she found made her professional show-no-emotions expression slip halfway from her face.  
The sheriff’s eyes were guarded, a sad frown creasing her brows.

“Sheriff Swan.”

She greeted her with a small nod.

“Why are you here?”

Emma was still regarding her with barely hidden hurt and Regina cringed inwardly. She couldn’t have possibly hurt the sheriff’s feelings by not visiting her, or could she?

“I am…”

The door opened yet again and Henry entered with a grin.

“Emma!”

“Hey kid.”

He hurried over to the bed and hugged Emma before turning back to look at his mom, beckoning her to come closer with a glance.  
Sighing she grabbed a chair and set it down next to the one Henry climbed into. He immediately began chatting away about his day and school while Emma cast awkward glances in Regina’s direction.

“So when are they going to let you out of here?” Henry asked, bouncing around in his chair. 

They must have had chocolate cake in school again and Regina made a mental note to discuss a change in menu with the council members at the next meeting.  
Emma sighed and shook her head.

“I don’t know. It’s sorta difficult. Mary-Margaret has a school trip coming up this weekend.”

Regina knew that ‘school trip’ in this case meant that the teacher would camp with her class in the forest not even a mile away from town.

“And with this thing here,” Emma gestured toward the cast that was still encasing her entire leg and shrugged defeated, “… the doctors won’t release me if there’s no one to help me along even though I told them I can manage just fine. Not like I haven’t survived fifteen years on my own…”

Henry frowned and turned to look at his mom from the corners of his eyes. She sat there, her back straight, and her features still betraying no emotions whatsoever.

“Mom?”

Brown eyes blinked and turned to him.

“Yes dear?”

“How about we take Emma with us until she can stay with Miss Blanchard? The guest room downstairs would be perfect, wouldn’t it? There are no stairs and we could look after Emma too!”

He was so excited about his idea that he was pretty much vibrating, hopeful eyes staring at Regina. Emma seemed to consider the suggestion and also turned to look at the mayor. Their expressions were so hauntingly similar that Regina had to collect her thoughts before coming up with a reason why this was an awfully bad idea.

“No listen kid, I can’t just…” Emma began after an awkward silence.

“Alright.”

Regina looked like the word had left a very bitter taste in her mouth.

“What?”

“I said alright, you may stay with us Sheriff Swan.”

“Yes!” Henry pumped his little fist into the air and beamed at the both of them.

“Are you sure?” Emma inquired uncertainly. 

“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t.”

Regina rose from her chair and fluffed out her hair.

“I will get whatever you need from your place and pick you up later tonight Sheriff.”

Emma blinked in surprise.

“Okay… thanks.”

Regina only nodded and gestured for Henry to get up.

“C’mon, you still have some homework to do and I need to speak with the doctors.”

“Alright! Thanks mom! See you later Emma!”

The mayor maneuvered her son out of the room and closed the door behind her without looking back, leaving a completely befuddled Emma behind.

-#-#-#-

Thankfully the apartment was empty when Regina let herself in. She had returned to Emma to get a list of the things she would need for the weekend and a key. Of course she could have just always used her skeleton keys but then she would have had to explain how she had been able to enter the apartment in the first place.

She looked around the living room, turning up her nose at the furnishings and overall design of the place.  
A small movement to her right caught her attention and she outright snarled at the little black-golden cat as it elegantly walked over to her and rubbed its head on her leg.

“You…!”

Love meowed loudly and looked up at her with his large yellow eyes.

“Have you got any idea of what you have done?” 

She bent down and picked the cat up. It started purring and rubbing against every available body part.

“I guess not.”

She sighed.

“You’re just a cat after all.”

Dropping the little animal, it landed safely on its legs and followed her up the stairs when she ascended them to get to Emma’s room.  
It smelled very distinctly of the sheriff when she entered and there was only slightly less chaos than in the rest of the apartment.  
She really wasn’t that keen on rummaging through any of the drawers but she had offered to get the things and there was no turning back now.  
Why she had so willingly allowed Emma to stay in her house, invading her privacy and spending even more time with Henry, wasn’t entirely clear to the mayor either.  
Maybe she had indeed suffered some permanent damage from the lack of air in that cellar. 

“Should definitely get that checked out,” she mumbled under her breath and knelt down to pull a black bag out from under the bed.

She threw a few tank tops and sweatpants from Emma’s closet into it. And after selecting a pair of comfortable shoes and a jacket, she turned her head away and blindly shoved a few pieces of underwear into the bag.  
This was definitely not how she had imagined her day to end, but each time she began to doubt the sanity of her decision she recalled how Emma had saved her from being crushed by a huge block of stone.

Love jumped up onto Emma’s bed and watched the mayor curiously as she collected a few last items before turning to the door.  
That ugly red joke of a leather jacket caught her eye and she raised an eyebrow in contemplation.  
Emma had in fact asked her to bring it along but she just couldn’t bring herself to touch it.  
Scoffing at the offending article of clothing she grabbed the bag and headed down the stairs and out of the apartment.

-#-#-#-

Emma looked quite pitiful with her crutches, limp hair and dark circles under her eyes. She was deathly pale, breathing heavily as she made her way toward the mayor’s black Mercedes.  
The strain of actually having to walk across the parking lot was clearly written across her face and for reasons unknown Regina kept on walking closely behind her.  
Sure enough Emma lost her balance shortly before reaching the car and Regina quickly stepped forward and wrapped both her arms around the sheriff’s waist to steady her. 

“I had forgotten how exhausting this is…”

Emma tried to smile but when she raised her head Regina was right there in front of her, arms still securely holding the sheriff upright.  
They were only a breath apart and all the mayor coul do was stare into the other’s eyes.  
Something shifted between them, Regina’s world tilting to the side for a moment and snapping back into focus more sharply in the next.

“I think we should, you know…”

Emma jerked her chin toward the car and took a small step back, careful not to lose balance yet again. Her cheeks were uncharacteristically reddened and she was still having trouble getting her breath back to normal, but this time certainly not because of exhaustion.  
Regina wordlessly assisted Emma in getting into the car while trying to make sense of whatever had just happened. There was an odd sensation in her chest, as well as in her head, and if she didn’t know any better she would have mistaken it for the feeling of magic humming through her veins.  
She was so focused on analyzing this odd sensation that she didn’t engage in any conversation Emma tried to strike up during the ride.

When Regina stopped the car in her driveway, she had managed to convince herself that she would eventually find out what exactly was wrong  
For now she needed to focus on the task at hand.  
Walking around to the trunk she grabbed Emma’s black bag and then moved to the passenger side to see the sheriff struggling to climb out of the car.  
When she dropped the bag to help Emma, the blonde raised a hand defensively. 

“I can do it, would you just hand me the crutches?”

Regina nodded wordlessly and simply waited until Emma had managed to stand on her own. It was obvious that she sheriff needed to prove to herself that she was able to do normal daily things without help. Regina understood that and therefore respectfully kept her distance when they made their way to the front door.  
She hadn’t even put the key in the lock yet when it flung open, revealing a broadly grinning Henry. She halfway expected one of his favorite comic book heroes to be walking in at any moment by the way he excitedly bounced up and down.  
Regina only raised an eyebrow and handed the bag to him.

“Would you show Sheriff Swan her room dear? I am going to prepare dinner.”

With that she shed her jacket and pulled off her heels before heading toward the kitchen.  
There was no reason why she shouldn’t continue living her life like nothing was out of the ordinary just because they had one house guest for a single weekend.  
She heard Henry chatting while he led Emma through the house to show her around the ground floor.  
He used to barely get a word out when they were alone, but ever since the accident his demeanor had completely changed. For at least a week he hadn’t accused her of being the Evil Queen and supposedly plotting the demise of this entire town.

Sighing she opted for making a simple lasagna, being too tired for anything more complicated. Her day had been long and hard, and having to pick up Emma’s stuff and the woman herself had left her on edge the entire time.  
Surprisingly enough dinner was a civil and even pleasant affair. Henry told them a bit about his day in school and Emma complimented her on her cooking skills.

Regina was pleased.  
If there was anything she prided herself with, besides being able to reduce another person to tears with a glare, it was her cooking.

Taking care of the dishes and tucking Henry into bed, she returned to the living room barely an hour later to find Emma in front of the television, watching some silly reality show.  
Emma turned her upper body when Regina pointedly cleared her throat.

“Regina.”

An infectious smile spread across Emma’s features.

“Sheriff Swan,” she said in greeting.

“Oh and here I thought we were already past that.”

“Is that so?”

The sheriff gave a non-committal shrug and cocked her head to the side.

“Thank you for letting me stay at your place. I know you’re probably not thrilled about me being here, but I appreciate it, really.”

Regina nodded, briefly wondering whether Emma would ask her why she hadn’t visited her in the hospital this entire past week, but when no such inquiry came she simply turned to leave.

“Well goodnight then Sheriff… Emma.”

Green-grayish eyes danced with laughter even though the blonde tried to remain serious. 

“Goodnight. Oh and Regina?”

The mayor looked back over her shoulder. “Yes?”

“You didn’t… bring my jacket, did you? I looked in the bag…”

“My day has been fairly busy…”

“No it’s okay,” Emma interrupted. 

She looked down for a moment before meeting brown eyes. “I was just wondering, no problem.”

The sheriff tried to shrug it off but Regina couldn’t help but notice that Emma really seemed to miss the damn thing. 

 

That is why Regina was once again entering the apartment Emma shared with Mary-Margaret the next day after work. She grumbled quietly, not really understanding herself why she was doing it.  
But the next thing she knew is that she stood in Emma’s room with the red leather jacket in her hands.  
It had definitely seen better days and was torn in several places. Scrapes and cuts littered back and front, while the arms were worn thin from use.

So it was the oddest thing when she returned home afterwards and, finding Emma napping in one of her loungers on the back porch, walked back into the house toward her study where she stayed for the rest of the late afternoon until it was time for Henry to get home from his session with Dr. Hopper.

“Hey mom!” 

Regina looked up from her handiwork and greeted her son with a smile. 

“Hello dear, how was your session?”

“It was okay.” 

The boy shrugged and moved his backpack up and down with the motion.

“Go and wash up, you can help prepare dinner if you like.”

He nodded enthusiastically, knowing that he being allowed to help meant that they would have something unusually unhealthy for dinner.  
Regina took a deep breath, suddenly quite nervous as she gathered the mended red leather jacket in her arms. She hadn’t worked with a needle in ages, but she was still excellent at it due to her childhood education.  
Still, what if Emma didn’t like it? Did it matter? Maybe she wouldn’t even notice.

Shaking her head, Regina walked toward the back porch again and found the sheriff still sitting in the chair, staring thoughtfully down at her leg in the cast.

“Here,” she simply said and held the jacket out to Emma.

The blonde raised her eyes, surprise clearly written across her features. She took the jacket from Regina and stared at it for a moment.

“Thanks.”

For some reason the mayor stood there, waiting for something more, but when it became obvious that Emma wasn’t going to say anything else she straightened her back and simply walked into the house wordlessly.  
Together with Henry she prepared some home-made burgers with a salad on the side.  
By the way Emma and Henry both inhaled their food, she could tell that they both enjoyed it a great deal and yet she couldn’t shake the feeling of disappointment creeping up on her. Emma still hadn’t said a single word about the jacket and its alterations, and that irked her beyond reason.  
She brought Henry to bed with a smile and headed straight for her bedroom to read a book she had started not too long ago, hoping for some much needed distraction.  
Taking a nice long hot shower, Regina changed into her silken pajamas, slid under the covers and flipped on the lamp beside her bed.

Sometime after the tenth page there was a timid knock on her door and she creased her brows worriedly. The last time Henry came to her room after bedtime had been about two years ago when he’d had a terrible nightmare and hadn’t been able to fall back asleep again.  
She rested the open book face down on her nightstand and hurried over to the door. The sight of Emma on the other side however startled her quite a bit.

“What…? What are you doing here? You know you’re supposed to stay away from stairs for at least another three days.”

Emma smiled sheepishly and shrugged as best as she could with the crutches tucked under her arms.

“You were not coming down so I had to come up.”

“What… why?”

“Well I was trying to think of an appropriate way to thank you for what you did with my jacket all day, and I wanted to do it after you brought Henry to bed, but you didn’t come back downstairs so… here I am.”

Although she didn’t show it, Regina was relieved that Emma had noticed what she had done. But it also worried her. Now the sheriff knew that she had actually made an effort to do something nice without wanting anything in return, and that was usually not her style. At all.

“You still shouldn’t have struggled up the stairs, it will only hinder your recovery,” Regina scolded, hands on her hips.

Emma smirked.

“Okay, won’t happen again, I promise.”

The sheriff cleared her throat and looked down at her feet for a moment.

“I just… wanted to thank you for fixing my jacket. It looks amazing now, I guess even better than before I bought it. I think that is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done really, and I know you don’t even like it too much. I mean you have expressed your dislike for my choice of clothing more often than not, and that jacket yeah… it would be a lie to say that you hid your aversion for it very well, and yet you fixed it.”

Emma’s eyes were darting around, refusing to look straight at Regina. 

“So, like I said, thank you.”

Suddenly she moved forward, probably trying to kiss the mayor’s cheek, but instead landed her lips against the corner of Regina’s mouth.  
Emma’s eyes widened and she quickly retreated, completely flustered.

“Uh… sorry, I was… that uhm… goodnight.”

Trying to get away quickly was quite a feat for the injured woman but Emma still managed to hobble out of sight by carefully taking one step after the other.  
Regina stood in the door, listening for any sounds that Emma had made it safely down to the ground floor before closing the door and returning to her bed with an unselfconscious smile on her lips.  
She couldn’t really remember the last time someone had thanked her for something so simple and it felt surprisingly good for a change.

-#-#-#-


	5. Working out the kinks

The next day passed without any noteworthy occurrences. It was a Saturday and Regina sat in her study, working her way through some paperwork of the previous week with a glass of cider resting on the table next to her hand.  
Emma and Henry were somewhere in the garden, her son probably getting dirt all over him with the sheriff encouraging any such silly behavior.  
That morning when Emma had joined them for breakfast, she had noticed that the blonde looked incredibly tired despite having spent the last two days mostly napping. She had no explanation for that and wondered whether she should ask the sheriff about it, but then again it really wasn’t her problem if Emma suffered from some sort of insomnia.

Finishing her paperwork Regina got up and rolled her head from one side to the other. That desk job was really starting to get to her back after all those years.  
Leaving her glass of cider untouched she excited the study and walked through the house until she reached the glass sliding doors that led to her back porch.

Emma sat on the lounger and watched Henry play with a certain black-golden cat the mayor had never wanted to see again.  
She pushed the door open especially forcefully, causing the cat’s head to snap up to stare in her direction.

“Hey mom, look, Love came back.”

Something about that sentence caused the mayor to narrow her eyes for a moment but she dismissed the odd feeling that had been returning from time to time ever since Emma had stumbled into her arms in the hospital parking lot. 

“Henry that animal brings nothing but trouble, I wish you wouldn’t encourage it any further to come back here.”

Emma grinned and raised an eyebrow. “You think everything was the cat’s fault?”

“No I am merely saying that I don’t like…”

Suddenly Love jumped up and hauled himself from where he was perched next to Henry into the air to land on Emma’s chest. The sheriff shrieked in surprise and tried to lift him off of herself, but Love only used the hands pushing at him as a stepping stone to sail through the air toward Regina.  
Brown eyes widened as she took several steps back to escape the onslaught only to stumble over one of Henry’s skates. Her arms flailed wildly in the air but she still lost her balance and landed hard on her back, the air being knocked out of her by the impact.  
Love however landed gracefully on his paws directly on top of Regina’s chest. 

“Regina!”

“Mom!”

Love purred loudly and rubbed his head on the mayor’s chin affectionately.

“I hate… this cat…”

Henry hurried over to his mother and lifted Love off of her. Clutching the little animal to his chest he looked around.

“I think I’ll just let him out through the front.”

They both knew that Regina would certainly kick the kitty out one way or another after that incident, and by taking care of Love himself Henry seemed to think that he could at least say goodbye properly. He hurried off the porch and around the corner with Love meowing loudly while Regina sat up.

If her back had been hurting before, then it was one big source of discomfort now. She groaned quietly and struggled to her feet, suddenly feeling every single one of those twenty-eight years.

“You okay?” Emma asked, still sporting a bemused expression.

“Just… fine,” she hissed and rolled her shoulders experimentally. 

The pain found permanent residence somewhere around her neck and moved from her shoulder blades down to her lower back. Baring her teeth she dropped into the other lounger a few steps away from Emma, sitting in an awkwardly rigid position as to not agitate her aching back any further. Emma scooted back and made some room on her chair, bending her uninjured leg at the knee and resting her foot on the ground.

“Come here.”

Regina slowly turned, brown eyes resting on the sheriff.

“Excuse me?”

Emma pointed at the vacant place in front of her. “Sit.”

“Why?”

“So I can help with your back, if you let me.”

“Please, it’s not as if I’m an old…”

She was trying to direct her gaze at something else beside these trustful green-grayish eyes imploring her to just do it, but the she couldn’t even turn her head away properly without wincing. Clenching her teeth she rose with a huff and walked over to the other lounger to seat herself in front of Emma, staring at the garden stretching out before them.

“See, that wasn’t so hard, now was it? Let me work my magic and you’ll feel better in no time.”

A bark of laughter escaped the mayor. “Your magic? Really?”

Emma chuckled quietly and rubbed her hands together, warming them up before placing them on Regina’s shoulders. The mayor was wearing one of her usual black turtlenecks and she could clearly feel heat of Emma’s body so very close to her own. The blonde moved her hands a few times up and down Regina’s back, probably to get her used to the feeling of actually being touched, before carefully digging her thumbs into the muscles of her neck.  
Regina’s head rolled forward and a tiny sigh sneaked past her lips.

-#-#-#-

When Henry returned a minute later after having released Love through the front gate, he came to an abrupt halt and peered around the corner.  
He narrowed his eyes at Emma and his mom, suddenly feeling like all the pieces of a puzzle were falling into place with a quiet ‘click’. A brilliant idea was making its way through the windings of his brain. He smirked and cackled quite evilly for a boy his age.  
Turning on his heels he walked back around the house to let himself in through the front door. He briefly wondered why he hadn’t seen it earlier, since the Savior was obviously supposed to save something or someone.  
He bounded up the stairs and hurried into his room. There was a plan waiting to be written.

-#-#-#-

Regina’s entire body was humming with relaxation as Emma worked her admittedly talented fingers over the last few kinks around her shoulder blades.

“And, feeling better?”

Regina smirked and turned her head slightly to the side, this time without wincing in pain.

“It’s not exactly magic but still…”

It felt way too intimate when Emma dragged her hands down the mayor’s arms before removing them completely. 

“Thank you.”

Regina sounded sincere while she remained sitting in front of Emma.

“You’re welcome.”

Heat had spread through her entire body and although she could acknowledge the arousal that had gathered in the pit of her stomach, she completely attributed it to the fact that she hadn’t allowed anyone to touch her in quite a while. That was the sole reason. Anything else would have been far too difficult to explain, let alone to analyze, so Regina firmly held onto the explanation in her head, deciding that she would not ponder on it any longer.

“So, when will you be able to chase imaginary thieves again?”

The mayor thoughtfully tapped her fingertips against the cast around Emma’s leg. Even though Emma had been with them for two days, they still hadn’t talked about any of what happened, least of all the moments in the cellar that might or might not have changed their feelings for one another on a basic level.

“I don’t know. The doctors said the leg is broken in so many places… they’re not sure if I’ll ever be able to really run again.”

Emma sighed and without having to turn around Regina knew she was shrugging it off.

“But it could be worse, right?”

“I suppose,” Regina answered. 

She suddenly rose from the chair and linked her hands behind her back before turning to Emma with a smile.

“How about we eat out today?”

The sheriff blinked, a little startled by the sudden change in mood, but nodded her assent.

“Sure, count me in.”

Of course Henry was thrilled about the prospect of eating out, not because Regina’s cooking was any worse than that of others, quite on the contrary, but the simple fact of getting food somewhere else excited almost every kid.  
The mayor raised an eyebrow as she watched her son scramble off the bed to hide something he had been writing. She was used to his moods and secrets by now, but she had thought that they were past the entire Evil Queen thing. 

“Ready?”

“Yes, coming!”

Henry dashed past her and down the stairs where Emma was already waiting for them.  
There was a smug smirk on her face when Regina’s gaze fell upon the red leather jacket she was wearing. Somehow she had now lost her right to criticize the piece of clothing and therefore only pressed her lips together to show her displeasure.  
Emma only raised her eyebrows, daring her to say something, but Henry was much quicker.

“Hey Emma your jacket looks real good. Did you do something to it?”

His little fingers plucked at the material, a look of concentration on his face.

“Well actually…”

“Alright let’s go!”

Regina ushered them out of the house and successfully distracted Henry by allowing him to choose where they would eat. Of course he decided that Granny’s would be the place to spend their Saturday evening and even though she tried to persuade him to try out another place he was not to be deterred.

 

They waited patiently for Emma to get out of the car, Regina already holding out the crutches to her.

“Thanks.”

Emma took the crutches and even smiled when she tucked them under her arms. She headed for the door and was the first one to step into the small diner.

“Emma!”

Ruby immediately rushed around the counter to greet the sheriff, as did some other guests and patrons. Obviously everyone was glad to see Emma, but as soon as Regina set foot into the diner behind her everything went deathly still.

Oh yeah, she still had it.  
It felt good to have all those fearful and hostile glares being directed her way.  
Ever since she allowed Emma to take up residence in her house she had started to feel like she lost her bite.  
They hadn’t really argued that much, and after the thing with the jacket, Emma had begun to smile at her so genuinely that it was almost disconcerting.

“Mom, can we sit down now? I’m sort of hungry.”

Henry walked past them and toward an empty booth where he slid into the seat, gesturing for Emma and Regina to do the same. And just like that the atmosphere in the room was a lot less tense. 

-#-#-#-

“Hey Em? Got a sec?”

Ruby motioned with her head for Emma to follow her over to the counter while Regina took a seat opposite her son.

“Care to tell me what is going on?”

Emma watched how Henry pointed out something on the menu only to have Regina shake her head with a determined set to her jaw.

“What do you mean?” Emma asked distractedly.

“You having a friendly family dinner with Madame Mayor herself?! Emma please, what the hell did I miss? I thought you were with Mary-Margaret trying to recover.”

Emma eventually turned to the waitress.

“What? Oh no, actually I’m staying with Regina. Mary-Margaret is on that school trip of hers and she couldn’t back out after she promised her kids they would go. So she won’t be back until Monday night.”

“Yeah right, you’re staying with Regina now since the two of you are best buddies anyway.” 

Ruby put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

“Cards on the table, what exactly happened in that cellar?”

“Nothing! I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”

Emma turned her head away defensively, her eyes travelling back to Henry and Regina.

“Me? Oh I’m just wondering why you’re so cozy with the Mayor all of a sudden when only a week ago the two of you tried to rip each other’s throat out.”

“That’s not true.”

“Oh you know it is.”

“Well maybe we decided to be civil with each other after almost suffocating in a damn cellar,” the sheriff hissed. 

Ruby raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. “Alright alright, I get it, you don’t wanna talk about it, but if you do, you know I’m here, ‘kay?”

“Yes, I know. Thanks Rubes.”

Emma smiled briefly and hobbled over to the booth to sit down next to Henry.

“You guys decided yet?”

“I can already feel my arteries clogging up by just looking at the menu,” Regina grumbled, causing Emma to chuckle.

Ruby sauntered over to their table, a smirk firmly in place.

“What can I get you all?”

“Mom, can I please get the turkey-cheese sandwich?”

Henry looked with large eyes at the mayor who leaned back with a sigh.

“You know I don’t like it when you…”

“C’mon Regina. The sandwich isn’t that bad of a choice,” Emma chimed in, smiling at the frowning woman.

“Mom?”

“Alright fine. I’ll have a salad then.”

“And chilly cheese fries for me,” Emma added.

Ruby was still staring at them open-mouthed, not even taking down their orders.

“Is there anything else you need Miss Lucas? Written directions to the kitchen maybe?”

Regina’s comment actually caused Ruby to blush a little before she hurried off, muttering a quiet ‘sorry’ on the way.

“What is it with the service personnel these days…?” Regina mumbled under breath, shooting Emma a meaningful glare.

The sheriff only raised an eyebrow in return and gave Henry a low-five underneath the table.

“Don’t come complaining to me though when either of you has a stomachache tonight.”

“And here I thought a good belly rub was part of the whole hospitality thing.”

Emma smirked as she watched Regina trying to think of a snarky retort. In the end she simply let the comment slide and focused on explaining the disadvantages of greasy food and the consequences of adiposity to Henry who was obviously far far away with his thoughts.  
They enjoyed dinner quite a bit in between a few good-natured arguments and Henry almost dripping sauce all over his pants and shirt.  
In the end they even managed to convince Regina to let them have chocolate brownie flavored ice-cream for dessert. 

-#-#-#-

Ruby was narrowing her eyes at the trio while standing next to Granny behind the counter.

“Do you see that? I can’t believe it. They’re in the same room without biting each other’s head off and look! Emma is even laughing, like genuinely.”

“Hmm…”

Ruby turned to her grandmother.

“What?”

“Hmm…”

“Seriously, what?!”

“I think that quite a few things are about to change in this town,” Granny answered thoughtfully.

Ruby turned back to stare at Emma. “I hope for the better.”

“Me too.”

Both women sighed and were brought back to the present when the door to the diner opened yet again. Ruby hurried back to work, cleaning and serving, while she kept a close eye on her friend and the mayor. She truly wondered what had happened in that cellar to turn two people who used hate each other’s guts completely inside out.  
She needed to discuss this with Mary-Margaret as soon as she got back from her school trip. Maybe Emma’s roommate could supply some information as to what was going on.

When the three of them left the diner and Henry dashed through the door, almost knocking one of Emma’s crutches out of the way without noticing, it was Regina who placed a steadying hand on the small of Emma’s back.  
Ruby was so shocked that she ran smack into Leroy who had been nursing his second beer the entire evening.

“Hey, watch where you’re going sister!”

-#-#-#-


	6. Walking the Distance

That night Emma didn’t sleep too well. Again. And it wasn’t because of the chilly cheese fries she had for dinner.

Nightmares of buildings collapsing above her and people getting killed by falling rocks were haunting her. She hadn’t been able to sleep well since the accident, and instead of getting better it had only gotten worse. Moving to Regina’s house was a vast improvement but still she couldn’t get a good night’s sleep. 

That is why she sat in her bed in the middle of the night, drenched in cold sweat, waiting for her heartbeat to return to normal. Pushing a few strands of hair out of her face, Emma looked around the sparsely furnished guest room until her gaze landed on the red leather jacket on a hanger by the door. Without having to see them, she knew that there were lots of tiny mended cuts all over it, making it almost look better than new.

Sighing quietly she grabbed her crutches and got out of bed. 

It was a warm night so the sheriff decided to venture out onto the back porch to gaze at the stars shining high above. She sat on the lounger, eyes closed, and listened to the sounds of the night around her.

There were quiet steps coming from inside the house and Emma didn’t have to look up to know that Regina had joined her on the porch. She opened her eyes and looked at the mayor who took a seat in the lounger next to hers.

“Can’t sleep?”

“No. What about you?”

“I’m just looking at the stars…”

Regina raised an eyebrow at her and Emma half-shrugged in her typical ‘not a big deal’ manner.

“I might have had a nightmare, or a few…”

“What about?”

“Oh you know the usual, clowns, running from a guy with a knife without getting anywhere…”

It was clearly a lie but Regina didn’t call her out on it. Instead she leaned back and silence engulfed them once again.

Strangely enough Emma felt completely at ease in Regina’s company. Ever since the accident, everything seemed changed. The dislike that had existed between them was now gone, or maybe turned into the opposite. Emma didn’t know why, but she knew that there was this silent strength emanating from Regina, and although she always seemed to be in control of her emotions, most of the time a step ahead of everyone else, there was also this sadness, this brokenness, that made Emma want to hold her and reassure that she was there should Regina ever need her.

Emma couldn’t entirely pinpoint where those feelings came from or when they had first emerged, but they were there now and needed to be dealt with.  
Hell, she had almost kissed Regina two days ago when she had struggled up to her room to thank her for taking care of her leather jacket. The urge to just press her mouth against those deliciously soft looking lips had been almost too strong to resist.

“I used to have a reoccurring dream when I was a child,” Regina eventually said.

Emma turned her focus and her gaze back to the mayor. “Really? What was it about?”

Regina furrowed her brows, looking up at the night sky. “I think it was about an egg that had fallen out of its nest high up in a large pine tree. A latter leaned against the tree and I tried to climb it, to put the egg back, but every time I lost my footing before reaching the nest. I saw the spokes rushing past me and always woke up when my body hit the ground…”

There was really nothing more beautiful than Regina sitting there, her posture relaxed, with pale moonlight bathing her entire form into an ethereal light. Emma swallowed thickly, forcing her hands to remain in her lap. She wanted nothing more than to reach out, but she was too unsure whether her touch would be welcomed or not.

“Got any idea what it could mean?” she asked instead.

Regina cocked her head to the side, still not turning to look at Emma.

“I really don’t know. But I suppose oneiromancy is not one of my strong suits.”

“Oneir… what now?”

“Dream interpretation, Emma.”

A smirk played around the mayor’s lips and made her eyes dance with amusement as she turned to Emma. A quiet ‘meow’ startled them both. A moment later Love stepped out of the shadows to their right and gazed at both women with large curious eyes.

“That cat again…!”

Regina was ready to pounce on the little animal, but Emma instinctively reached out and rested a hand on the mayor’s forearm.

“Just let him be, for tonight?”

Obviously not to keen on destroying the calm atmosphere, Regina settled back and breathed out a sigh.

Love was sneaking around them in the darkness but kept a respectable distance, seemingly sensing the hostile vibe from Regina. When the mayor had eventually decided not to follow every of the cat’s movements with her gaze anymore she turned to Emma, her brown eyes almost black in the semi-darkness.

“Now will you tell me what really keeps you up? I’m sure it’s not clowns and men with knives chasing you.”

Emma sighed quietly, knowing that there was no use in trying to skirt around the truth with Regina. 

“Well I guess I haven’t really gotten over the entire situation of suffocating in the cellar of a building that might have come crashing down at any moment. I suppose my head just needs to accept the fact that we’re alive and well, and that everything is just fine.”

“Have you thought about seeing Dr. Hopper?”

“No! I mean that won’t be necessary, really. We’re already talking about it, right? It’s not like this is some deep-seeded trauma or something. I just need time to process.”

“If you’re certain.”

Regina rose from her lounger and looked around the garden one last time. “I’m going back to bed, and you should try to get some sleep too.”

Emma nodded and watched the mayor disappear back into the house. The oddity of the fact that she was having a little past-midnight chat with no other than Regina Mills, Madame Mayor extraordinaire and former opponent, did not go unnoticed by Emma. But she just couldn’t bring herself to deny that she was starting to feel things, which really were the opposite of dislike or mistrust.

-#-#-#-

Four Months Later

 

Emma was having one of her not so good days. They had become more frequent in the last couple of weeks but she just wasn’t in the shape or the mood to do anything about it.  
Her leg was frustrating her, as was the pain that had become a constant companion ever since she’d started physiotherapy.

The day had already begun with her being late for the session and now she just couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.  
Sure enough, she found brown eyes intently regarding her from the other side of the room. Ever since she had moved back to Mary-Margaret, after an admittedly very enjoyable weekend, Regina had taken it upon herself to check on Emma’s physical recovery and progress.

The mayor was continuously dropping in on her sessions, simply watching how Emma struggled to push weights or move her leg without her hands helping along. For reasons that weren’t entirely clear to either of them they had also started having dinner with Henry on Sundays. Sometimes Regina cooked, or they ate at Granny’s. 

It was comfortable, almost feeling a bit homey and not to mention frightening, at least for Emma. 

The citizens of Storybrooke had eventually started to accept the fact that Mayor and Sheriff were much more civil with one another now, and only Ruby kept on asking Emma what had brought on this change. And although Regina was still prickly at the best of times, it had become more bearable to be in her presence for everyone. Sometimes she even smiled and was downright nice to Emma. 

If anyone had thought this development strange at first, they were certainly not complaining anymore. 

Now darkened brown eyes were regarding the sheriff intently how she held herself upright with only her arms. Two metal bars were on either side of her and it took up all her strength to not land on the floor face first.

Her trainer, a young man with thick black hair, had his arms crossed in front his chest, slowly shaking his head.

“Really Sheriff, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t be able to walk. The muscles in your leg are almost back to how they were before.”

Emma ground her teeth together. The last time he’d said that she had found herself lying on the ground, gasping like a fish without water. She just couldn’t walk yet. There was no way her leg would carry her entire weight, even with the movable cast around it. Sighing she put her uninjured leg down and took some strain off her arms.

“I’m just not ready yet. It’s not going to work.”

“But the problem is not physical!”

Her trainer, Ali, threw his hands up in frustration.

“Are you saying that it’s all in my head?!”

Emma narrowed her eyes at him and he opened his mouth as if to say something, but was interrupted by a deep rich voice.

“Don’t you see that the Sheriff is not ready for it?”

Regina was making her way toward them, heels clicking dangerously on the linoleum floor. Emma nodded and was about to thank Regina for helping her out when she impassively continued.

“I suppose you can’t expect much more from her. She is just not the kind of person to work through something till the end, now are you Sheriff Swan?”

“Regina…what…?”

Emma’s mouth was literally hanging open. She couldn’t believe what Regina had just said. 

The mayor shrugged. “I guess I have bet on the wrong horse in this case. The position of Sheriff has been vacant for too long now, and seeing as you are not capable of regaining your complete physical health I will just appoint someone else. Probably should’ve done that months ago.”

Regina sighed and rolled her eyes. There was blood rushing in Emma’s ears. Her heart was pounding, with anger flooding her veins, making her almost dizzy with its intensity.  
She had trusted Regina, even opened up to her. Hell, she even had allowed her to see her at her worst, when she hadn’t been able to simply raise her leg without help and started sobbing quietly like a child. Even then the mayor had been understanding, trying to comfort her as best as she could.  
And now this.

“I think we’re done here. I don’t see any sense in continuing your therapy… It’s the same with old mares, they have to be put down when they can’t walk anymore. That’s life.”

Regina turned away, slinging her purse over her shoulder.

“How dare you…?!”

With a few quick strides the sheriff made her way over to Regina and grabbed her arm to spin her back around.

“After all the shit I went through…! How dare you compare me to some old horse! I fucking thought you were on my side. I wouldn’t be in this position if I hadn’t saved your damn life!”

Suddenly Regina smiled so blindingly bright, a broad flash of perfectly white teeth, that Emma took a small step back in surprise. Brown eyes travelled down her body, to her feet, and back up to her eyes.

Emma stared down at herself. She was standing, actually standing, on her own two feet, and all that without crutches. She had walked, and not even noticed it. Her leg wasn’t hurting, it was a little sore maybe, but otherwise completely alright. Emma took a small step toward Regina, like the mayor had done in front of the mine all this time ago, and lowered her gaze.

“You only said those things to make me forget that I was afraid.”

“Did I?”

Regina smirked when Emma shot her a tiny glare. Already in the next moment Emma lost herself in that deep brown gaze. She felt like there were so many things she wanted to say, to finally get off her chest what was going on inside her head. But the moment was gone when Ali cleared his throat.

“Alright, well done Sheriff. I think that’s it for today.”

Without heeding Regina’s glare, he made his way across the room to disappear through a door at the far end. Emma exhaled through her nose and turned away to gather her things. It was actually fun, being able to hold something beside crutches in her hands, and she smiled as she trudged after Regina out onto the street.

The sun was shining brightly above them and it was beautiful warm day. A slight breeze blew a few strands of hair into Regina’s face as she turned around to Emma. The sheriff, so glad to finally have her hands free again, reached out and brushed the dark curls away from a smooth brow.  
Regina’s breath hitched as Emma’s fingers grazed her cheek.

-#-#-#-

Henry walked down the sidewalk, his bag hanging off one shoulder. He was on his way to his session with Dr. Hopper and smiled when he saw his mom and Emma standing on the other side of the street. He raised his hand in greeting and was about to yell to get their attention when a warm hand clamped over his mouth.

“Not a sound,” a female voice whispered into his ear.

Henry was dragged away to a corner before the hand left his mouth. He spun around and stared at Ruby.  
“What’d you do that for?”

Red lips parted in a smile.

“Seriously? Look at them.”

Henry slowly moved back and peered around the corner to where his mom and Emma were standing. His eyes widened when he saw how Emma leaned forward and his mom met her halfway. He was too far away to be completely sure, but it seemed like they were kissing. Actually kissing.

All of his previous attempts to get them to this point had spectacularly failed and both Emma and his mom had started to believe that they were having a streak of bad luck. They had on occasion found themselves locked in the mayor’s office for no apparent reason or had sat through dinner with Henry excusing himself because of stomachaches.

“Operation Wolf Boy is finally successful,” Ruby said, giggling.

Henry turned and they high-fived.

-#-#-#-

Somewhere between her lips touching Regina’s and tilting her head back to savor the feeling of a velvety tongue sliding across her lower lip, Emma had closed her eyes. And even as the kiss slowly ended, after sharing two, three short kisses, she still had them intently shut. Never before in her life had a kiss done something like that. Her entire body was vibrating, liquid arousal spreading through every single vein, making her head dizzy and her breath short.

When she had collected her thoughts enough, she opened her eyes only to stare into surprised brown orbs. There was a mixture of shock, want and confusion on Regina’s face and all Emma could do was wait which emotion would win out in the end. Luckily for her it was smugness. Regina raised an eyebrow and smirked at the sheriff’s dazed look.

“I suppose a reward was in order after your successful recovery.”

Emma couldn’t help but grin stupidly.

“Oh yeah… right.”

The mayor quickly looked around and Emma followed suit. She hadn’t really been thinking about that they were in the middle of the street where any passerby could see them, but it hadn’t really mattered in that moment. Nothing had. Together they made their way over to Regina’s black Benz. Emma’s beloved Bug was still standing vacant in front of Mary-Margaret’s apartment until she was able to drive again, but she patted her baby whenever she hobbled past it.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later?”

Emma insecurely glanced at Regina, unsure of how they were going to handle The Kiss. Even in her head it had capital letters.

“Yes.”

Shooting one of her ‘I own this town’ smiles, Regina got into the car and drove off, leaving Emma standing on the sidewalk, still smiling as if someone had just offered her a million dollars.

“Better than I could have ever imagined our first kiss to be…” she mumbled to herself.

Not two minutes later, Mary-Margaret drove around the corner and parked her car in front of Emma to pick her up.

“Hey!”

She shot out of the driver’s seat, the biggest smile on her face. “You’re walking!”

“That I am.”

Emma accepted the enthusiastic hug and returned it happily.

“Ready to go?”

“Oh yeah.”

-#-#-#-

Regina sat at her desk, staring at the papers in front of her, but all she was seeing were blurry lines and letters that made no sense whichever way she combined them. Her thoughts were quite far away, with a certain blonde sheriff to be exact, and she couldn’t focus on a single one of her tasks. It was almost a small relief when the door to her office opened. But when she saw who had come to pay her a visit, her entire face darkened.

“Mr. Gold, I believe we do not have an appointment.”

“No we don’t, but I won’t keep you from work for long, I promise.”

“Well I really haven’t got time for…”

“You really want to hear I have got to say Madame Mayor,” Gold interrupted.

“So, please, give me a minute of your precious time.”

Regina raised an eyebrow and, leaning back in her chair, felt the last tendrils of magic surging through her, forcing her to do as Gold asked. Gold made his way over to her desk and tapped his fingertips on the surface while looking around thoughtfully.

“I simply came to give you friendly advice, nothing more.”

He turned his dark eyes to the mayor, his voice dropping. “You might want to be more careful who you chose to spend your time with in the future, because if you want this," he raised his hand and gestured around the office, “…to still exist the next time you open your eyes, I recommend staying away from the one person that could take everything, everything you have sacrificed so much for, from you once and for all.”

Regina gasped quietly and suddenly rose from her chair, stalking toward Gold with a snarl. “What are you insinuating?”

Gold chuckled darkly and shook his head. “You still haven’t figured it out, have you? I would’ve expected more from you, but I suppose all those years of calmly doing nothing but this desk job has dulled your…”

“Enough!”

Regina slapped the flat of her palm atop the desk, effectively interrupting the older man’s flow of words.

“Say what you have to say, or else see yourself out. I don’t have time for your games.”

Gold smiled and it wasn’t in any way pleasant. There was something too smug about him, like he was about to deliver the final blow - which was of course impossible. But the bomb he dropped was still fascinatingly large.

“Sheriff Swan, or shall I say dear Emma, is no other but Snow and Charming’s daughter. She is the Savior and will break the Evil Queen’s curse. And correct me if I’m wrong, but that means you’re having relations with the enemy, thus my friendly piece of advice, get rid of her or lose everything.”

The air was literally knocked out of Regina and she had to use the hand still resting on the desk to steady herself. Anger, sadness, disappointment and betrayal in all of its forms were racing through her head. 

“I’ll see myself out then. Have a good day, Madame Mayor.”

She stared unseeingly at Gold’s retreating form. He was just a pawn in this, albeit a talented player, nothing more than a piece on the board.  
But Emma.

“Emma…”

She was the one unknown force that could bring down the Queen.

“Emma.”

She was the only one who could make her lose the entire game.

-#-#-#-


	7. The Curse, the Savior and Love

With rage fueling her actions, Regina managed to get a hold of the poisonous apple she had once used to curse Snow White. Like mother like daughter.

She had sacrificed her ring, the ring Daniel had given her, using the last remains of magic to make that damn hat work. It really was delightful to feel the vibrations of magic running across her skin again, reminding her of things long past. But the bitter taste of anger had soon overtaken her emotions again and in no time Regina found herself standing in the kitchen of her house, staring at the steaming apple turnover, fresh out of the oven.

It would banish the Savior from her life. One bite and the only threat to her curse would be gone. Balling her hands into fists she hissed. Without her picking up on it the Savior had wriggled her way into Regina’s life, deceitfully and spitefully. And she had unknowingly let her in, not realizing that she was opening the doors to the enemy. But that would have an end now. It was time to prove that no one could beat her, not in her own game.

And yet there were doubts, somewhere deep inside of her. Emma didn’t know that she was the Savior, or did she?

Was Gold really telling the truth? Did it matter? 

Of course he would be so sadistic as to bring her the child of the Savior to raise as her own son, only to have the satisfaction of seeing her losing him and everything else in the end. But it was too great a risk. She needed to make sure that her curse remained, no matter the cost. So what would another destroyed life mean to her? She had taken so many already to ensure that the curse worked.

It would be so easy, just offering the apple turnover to Emma. She would eat it willingly, and with no prince nearby to bestow the kiss of true love upon her, she would sleep for all eternity. Of course Henry would be sad at first, but she could handle that, sadness was something she understood. And after a couple of years he would get over it, forgetting about the woman who had given birth to him.

And although her head was telling her to just get over with it and move on with her life as if nothing had happened, she couldn’t bring herself to move. She stood there, both hands on the kitchen counter, staring down at the apple turnover.  
Was this hesitation reason enough to reject the plan?

“So this is what you’ve cooked up with that special apple of yours.”

Regina spun around, glaring at the intruder in her kitchen. “What do you want?!”

Jefferson cocked his head to the side and raised the gun he was holding to his temple. He tapped the head of the barrel against it. “I think you know exactly what I want.”

“I said…”

“I know what you said! And I also know what you didn’t say! You’re never going to make good on your word, you never did.”

He narrowed his eyes and pointed the gun at her. “And now I think it is time for my revenge.”

Regina smirked, putting one hand on her hip. “You’re not going to do it. I think we’ve already established that.”

“Your Majesty, I think you’re underestimating me. You have no idea what all those lonely years have done to me… I am ready to blow!” he suddenly yelled, causing Regina to flinch.

Jefferson smirked at her reaction.

“I think little Henry will be home from school soon, won’t he?”

He looked around and leaned back so that he could glance at the front door. Regina’s eyes widened and she took a small step forward.

“Don’t you dare threaten my son!”

Jefferson lurched forward so that they were staring at each other head on. “In fact I will do much worse than just threaten him! Just imagine him walking in here, seeing someone threatening his mother with a gun… I will just ask him very politely to take a bite to save his mother’s life. That’s not too much to ask, wouldn’t you agree?”

Regina clearly saw the madness shining in those eyes, well knowing that she was the cause of it. Somehow she felt like she should regret what she did to him, but with this fool threatening her son she could only be sorry that she hadn’t killed him when she’d had the chance.

“You leave him alone, or I swear I will…”

“What Regina? What?! You have no magic in this world, no power but a fake title. And now I will free this entire town of you!”

He pointed the gun at her and jerked it toward the apple turnover.

“Eat it.”

Regina widened her stance defiantly.

“Eat it or Henry will be paying for your sins. I swear to you, if it is the last thing I do.”

Regina realized that this mixture of madness and determination was nothing to be trifled with. He was capable of harming a child, his mind was already too far gone, maybe beyond repair.

“Now!” he yelled, louder this time.

He was getting impatient and his finger around the trigger was starting to squeeze and release the deadly little piece of metal rhythmically.  
Regina swallowed and moved over to the counter. She picked up the apple turnover and stared at it.

“Yes, that’s right,” Jefferson encouraged.

“Promise by the life of your daughter that you won’t harm Henry.”

She stared at him and he nodded, lowering the gun. “I promise.”

Of course it was insane to trust the word of a madman, but what choice did she have? She raised the turnover to her lips. And for the very first time in her life the Evil Queen got a taste of her very own poison.

-#-#-#-

Emma made her way up to the door when it suddenly swung open and a man she had never before seen stormed out. His eyes widened when he spotted her.

“Hey what are you…?” she began, but fell silent when he produced a gun out of nowhere and pointed it at her.

“Out of my way!”

“What the hell were you doing in there?!”

Suddenly the man laughed, and it sounded like he had completely lost his mind.

“The Evil Queen’s reign has finally ended!”

Emma quietly worked her jaw, fighting the worry rising in her throat back down. She needed to arrest this bastard so he couldn’t do any harm, but she neither had her gun nor her cuffs. So when he tried to walk past she blocked his way.

“Put the gun down and I will see what I can do for you.”

“For me? It’s way too late for me.”

He raised his gun, about to strike her with it, when suddenly a black-golden ball of fur jumped from one of the bushes directly into his face. Love hissed and buried his claws in soft flesh. The man screamed and ripped the cat from his face, coming away with five identical red marks on either cheek. Love landed on the ground softly, arching his back, hissing and growling frighteningly.

The man barged past Emma and she couldn’t do a single thing to stop him. She was still unsteady on her leg and there was no way she could chase after him. Instead she turned to the house and its open door, her heart beating frantically in her chest.

“Oh god, please please… oh god…”

She stepped inside and looked around.

“Regina?” she called, but naturally there was no answer.

Emma searched the entrance hall but found absolutely nothing, no blood, no signs of a struggle. But when she rounded the corner to the kitchen, her heart stopped. Like literally ceased pumping blood through her veins and arteries for several seconds. Regina was crumpled on the floor next to her kitchen counter, lifeless and deathly pale.

“No! Regina!”

She rushed over to the unconscious woman and dropped to her knees next to her, not feeling the pain that shot through her entire leg at the contact. She searched the mayor’s body for any injury, but there was absolutely none to be found.

“Regina, wake up! C’mon, we already had this, so I need you to wake up now.”

What had this goddamn bastard done to her? Emma whipped out her cell phone and called for an ambulance, but other than that there was absolutely nothing to be done. Whatever she tried, Regina just wouldn’t wake up. It was a complete déjà vu when she cradled the unconscious mayor against her chest and gently stroked her hair.

“Wake up please, for me, for Henry… please?”

Regina’s forehead was cold when she pressed her lips against it, as if death was already reaching out for her.

Everything after that happened in a blur. The ambulance came but Emma wasn’t allowed to stay with Regina during the ride to the hospital. Instead she had to call Mary-Margaret, who had just dropped her off, to come back and take her. Henry was still in school and her roommate promised to take care of him while Emma waited in the hospital for any kind of news.

No one ever noticed the apple turnover on the mayor’s kitchen floor where it had tumbled out of Regina’s grasp.

-#-#-#-

Dr. Whale shook his head.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t find anything. No drugs, nothing.”

Emma raked both hands trough her already disheveled hair. “But there has to be something! That bastard did something to her.”

“I really am sorry.”

Dr. Whale patted her shoulder awkwardly.

“You can go in and see her now.”

Emma nodded without looking at him and numbly made her way down the corridor toward where Regina was lying behind the glass doors. A machine was monitoring the steady beating of her heart, and there was seemingly absolutely nothing wrong with her, except for the fact that she just wouldn’t wake up.

“Why does this keep happening to us?” Emma mumbled as she stood beside the bed. 

She gently reached out and cupped Regina’s pale cheek with her hand.

“I swear that I will find this bastard, and I will make him tell me what he did to you, whatever the cost.”

Emma slowly shook her head and laughed mirthlessly. “God Regina, I can’t believe that I didn’t realize… how much you mean to me. I’m such a fool. I had to find you like this before I understood that I…”

Her throat constricted suddenly around the words that were about to leave her mouth. She couldn’t say them, not now, not like this. Instead Emma leaned down and left a soft kiss on Regina’s forehead, then moved to both her cheeks and finally her lips.

The earthquake took Emma completely by surprise. She threw her upper body across the mayor’s form to protect her from any kind of harm. But when the earth ceased to shake and no other noise but her ragged breathing filled the room Emma straightened herself and looked around.

“What the hell…?”

“Language Sheriff Swan…”

Emma gasped and turned to look at Regina. Brown eyes gazed back at her and there was a tiny weak smile on the mayor’s lips.

“Regina!”

“Mom!”

The glass door behind them opened and Henry stumbled into the room. He rushed over to them and looked from his mom to Emma.

“You did it!”

The sheriff raised her eyebrows.

“I did what?”

“You broke the curse! Didn’t you feel it? Everyone felt it! It’s True Love’s Kiss!”

Emma chuckled quietly and shook her head.

“Listen kid…”

Meanwhile Regina had pushed herself up into a sitting position. There was an unreadable expression on her face.

“He’s right,” she interrupted, not looking at Emma.

“What?”

“He is telling the truth Emma.”

There was a hysteric edge to her voice when she laughed again. “Oh come on, don’t be ridiculous. This town is not cursed and there are no fairytale characters here, that would be absolutely…”

In the next moment their eyes met and Emma knew, just knew, that Regina was not trying to play her. It hit her like a ton of bricks. She gasped and took a few hectic steps back.

“Emma, it’s okay,” Henry tried to calm her.

“You broke the curse with True Love’s Kiss because you are the Savior and everyone will get their happy endings back.”

“But… but…”

The sheriff’s eyes darted wildly from Henry to Regina and back.

“But that means she is the Evil Queen! And Mary-Margaret she… she is…”

“Your mother,” Regina supplied calmly.

She had folded her hands in her lap, atop the blue hospital blanket. She seemed to accept everything happening around her with a calm detachment while Emma became more nervous by the second.

“I need to go. I have to get out of here.”

“But Emma…!” Henry called, but the sheriff had already turned and hurried through the open glass door, out of sight.

-#-#-#-

Regina hung her head but smiled when Henry bestowed a hug upon her.

“I’m sorry mom, but I’m sure Emma will come around eventually.”

“I guess it is a lot to take in, especially for someone who thought that magic is nothing more than a fantasy.”

Regina sighed quietly and beckoned Henry to sit beside her on the bed. She wrapped both arms around and him and held him to her for what seemed to be a small eternity.

“Uhh… mom?”

“Listen Henry, I need you to be strong now, okay?”

He nodded and leaned back to look at his mother. Regina cradled his face in both hands and pressed a loving kiss to his forehead.

“No matter what anyone tells you, I do love you.”

Henry started fidgeting and got up off the bed. His little eyes darted around the room.

“I.. uh better go see about Emma, I think she needs me right now.”

Regina’s face turned into an impassive mask. She nodded numbly.

“Yes, of course. She is probably rather confused right now…”

Henry nodded and turned to walk out of the room, remembering in the last second that he hadn’t told his mom that he also loved her. When he looked back over his shoulder there was only a thin cloud of purple smoke.

“Mom?!”

-#-#-#-

That little stunt had pretty much cost her every remaining bit of energy. Regina dropped onto the small bed with wobbly legs, sweat gathering on her forehead. She was completely drained. Transporting herself by means of magic hadn’t been an easy thing even during her best of times, but now it was so exceedingly exhausting that she could do nothing more than stare at the wooden ceiling above her while lying on the bed unmoving.

Only by pulling the last bit of magic still clinging to her from the sleeping curse, she had managed to transport herself to this place. Of course it wasn’t her house, but a little cottage hidden in the woods near the town’s boundary. She had created it in case something like this should happen. It was sparsely furnished but had electricity and a supply of fresh water. Regina knew that, now that the curse was broken, the townspeople would be coming after her with torches and pitchforks to execute their revenge.

But the worst part of all this was not, how she had expected, that her curse was broken, but the fact that Emma hadn’t been able to even be in the same room with her after she had realized that Regina was indeed the Evil Queen. It hurt a great deal and she felt the small cracks in her heart more acutely than ever before. She should have known that a happy ending was not meant for her. 

After she had awoken, in yet another one of the world’s ugliest hospital gowns, and found Emma standing beside her bed, hope had blossomed in her chest. But she should have known better. No one could feel anything but resentment for the Evil Queen, that was just how things were. Regina was glad though, that she hadn’t been able to go through with her plan. It was clear to her now that she would have regretted giving the apple turnover to Emma for the rest of her life. 

But the fear to lose, the fear that everything would be taken from her again, had dominated her every thought.

But it didn’t matter anymore, now it was over. Snow and Charming would remember who they used to be and live out their happily ever after. Henry had Emma to rely on, and he would eventually forget. They all would.

Regina sighed and closed her eyes. It was all over now.

-#-#-#-

She dreamed of Daniel while she slept, and of her mother plunging a hand into his chest shortly before squeezing the only heart that had ever loved her to dust. She dreamed of Henry, how she had held him in her arms for the first time. He had been the most beautiful baby in all the world, and when his tiny hand tightly squeezed her finger she had finally been able to feel love again.

And she dreamed of Emma, who ate the poisoned apple turnover with a smile and dropped to the ground dead. Killed by her very own hand.

Regina woke with a gasp because there was an uncomfortable weight on her chest and for a moment she thought someone was trying to take her heart. But when she opened her eyes and raised her head she was only greeted by the sight of a certain black-golden cat yawning into her face. Love stretched out on top of her chest and rubbed his not so little head on her chin. How did he even get into the cabin?

Releasing the breath she’d been holding, Regina dropped her head back to the bed. She didn’t have the energy to push the cat off of her, let alone to get up, so she simply gazed at the ceiling while listening to Love’s continued purr. There was something peaceful about the monotonous noise and soon her eyes closed again.

-#-#-#-

Henry was hugging Love to his chest when he made his way over to Emma. The blonde was sitting on the couch in the living room, staring at the small TV screen without actually seeing anything. She had been like that ever since the curse was lifted.

Henry plopped down next to her.

“Hey.”

“Hey kid.”

Love meowed loudly and Emma regarded the black-golden cat thoughtfully.

“I thought he ran off.”

“Well he did, or more like he keeps doing it. He only comes back for a couple of days and then disappears again.”

“Is that so…?”

Emma was now looking at the cat with a raised eyebrow. For quite some time now she had refused to think about the situation at hand but the wheels in head started turning again. She had accepted that Mary-Margaret was Snow White and her mother, and they’d talked for hours on end, deciding that their future together was the most important part.  
It was easier with James. He was a good man and fun to be around. Yet both of them kept on apologizing for something that was not really their fault, namely that Emma had to live for twenty-eight years without a family – which brought her back to the person responsible for it all.  
Regina.

She had tried not to think about her. But there was just no way she could forget about Regina, not even for a second. She missed the other woman, so much that it was almost a physical ache. The world how she had known it was crumbling around her and there was really no one she could talk to about the weirdness of it all. Snow was constantly overjoyed about having gotten her true love and daughter back. 

Henry was happy with the outcome of events, although he missed his mother almost as much as Emma did. But he was just a child, of course he found fairytale characters who came to life in front of his very eyes exciting. Emma however needed time to adjust, sometimes it was too much to take in. She was some sort of Savior, and yet she felt like she hadn’t been able to save the one person who needed her most. All Emma wanted was a moment of quiet to talk to Regina, but the former mayor had simply vanished. They had thoroughly searched the entire town but there was no trace of her to be found.

Worry was not even a word to describe Emma’s emotions. At night she was lying awake in bed, imaging all kinds of horrible scenarios about what might have happened to Regina.  
During the day it was easier to tell herself that everything would be alright, but still there was this underlying fear that she would never see Regina again. But now, as she stared at the cat wriggling in Henry’s grasp, an idea was forming in her head.

Maybe Love was the key.

Emma smirked at the double entendre and got up from the couch.

“Alright kid, I think I have a plan.”

-#-#-#-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in this case the return of magic and everyone's memories happen at the same time.


	8. Love's Plan

Emma’s plan mainly consisted of following the black-golden cat through town, preferably without being discovered by the sneaky animal.  
For some reason she firmly believed that Love would inevitably lead her to Regina. He had returned to the mayor time and again over the course of more than half a year, so why stop now?  
She left Henry at the apartment with his walkie, just in case she got lost somewhere.  
But after half a day of following Love around, Emma was slowly starting to lose hope. She had held onto this small possibility and now that it wasn’t getting her anywhere she felt the lethargy creeping up on her again.

Sighing she climbed over yet another fallen log when she realized that they were quite a bit off the road, somewhere deep in the forest surrounding Storybrooke on two sides. She couldn’t remember ever having ventured into it this far, but Love was steadily walking further into the woods. Did cats like forests? Emma had no idea. Maybe he was just looking for a cozy place for the night. And where would that leave her?

Nightfall caught up with her much quicker than she expected and soon enough there was only the pale light of the full moon still illuminating her way. She stumbled more often than not and completely lost sight of Love. So much for her ingenius plan. There was an owl hooting somewhere in the distance and for the first time Emma actually realized that she was alone in a forest, not knowing what sort of animals, or magical creatures, could be hiding behind the next bush. Her heart beat a little quicker and made her steps a bit faster. 

“Nothing better than a creepy forest to get your pump going…” she mumbled and looked around.

There were so many sounds around her that she couldn’t place, and it started to frighten her, but she refused to use the walkie to contact Henry. He was just a kid and wouldn’t be able to help her anyway. All he could do was alert Snow and Charming to her predicament and she first wanted to see if she could get out of this mess by herself. No need to send mommy and daddy on a rescue mission so shortly after they’d regained their memories. 

Traipsing through town half the day, and having to make her way across the uneven ground of the forest, Emma’s leg started hurting after a while. When it had turned out that her physiotherapist was in truth the Prince of Agrabah, her sessions had come to an abrupt end, and now she was on her own with the entire thing.

She eventually decided to sit down and rest for a bit before continuing to search for the road or anything that looked remotely familiar. She massaged the painfully protesting muscles in her thigh and stretched out her leg. There were scars all over it now, from her kneecap to her hip and down to her ankle. It was not a pretty sight, but Emma didn’t mind them too much. Rather those, than having Regina crushed underneath tons of rock and sand. She knew that she would make the same decision time and again.

Suddenly there was noise somewhere in the bushes to her left. It sounded like someone was starting a small car, or alternatively a chainsaw, but the sound turned into a long-drawn howl a moment later. That was most definitely not a chainsaw, or a car, and although Emma had never really heard the growl of a wolf before, she knew that this was it.

Getting up on shaky legs she stared into the darkness, and maybe her mind was playing tricks on her, but she thought she saw two large yellow eyes glaring at her from the underbrush. She sure as hell couldn’t outrun a wolf, even if her leg hadn’t been feeling like it could fall off at any moment. Were there even wolves in Storybrooke? She sure had seen one right before crashing into the welcome sign. Emma swallowed thickly, fear rendering her limbs immovable.

Already in the next second the largest wolf she had ever seen stepped from behind a tree in front of her. It was pitch black and its fur seemed to swallow even the rest of the remaining moonlight from above. The wolf was growling, a sound coming from deep within its body, and Emma knew that she was staring death in the eye.  
Literally.

The wolf stalked closer and Emma stood there, frozen to the spot. She was trying to breathe quietly through her nose, as if that would divert the animal’s attention from her. It probably already knew that she was shitting her pants right in that moment.  
Metaphorically.

Emma couldn’t even react as quickly as she wolf suddenly lunged forward. It tackled her to the ground and a long-drawn scream burst free of her.

“Regin-aahhh!”

She saw sharp glistening teeth hovering right in front of her and closed her eyes tightly, already expecting the searing pain of the wolf ripping into her throat. That was certainly not how she had imagined she would die.

-#-#-#-

“Regin-aahhh!”

The scream was about as frantic and full of fear as she had ever heard. Unfortunately the voice was too familiar. Dropping the basket full of apples, Regina hurried away from the little clearing and toward her cabin, trying to follow the noise.

She dashed through a few low hanging branches and stopped dead in her tracks with her heart beating frantically. She needed a moment to catch her breath, taking in the entire scene before her.

“Emma?”

Suddenly the sheriff stopped wriggling around on the ground and lay still for a few seconds. Regina could see tears glistening on the other woman’s cheeks. Slowly, very slowly, Emma blinked her eyes open and stared at Love who was proudly sitting on her chest, tail swooshing back and forth.

Regina could sense the magic in the air and around Emma. It was pure and completely untarnished. And so very powerful. It literally made her shiver when she stepped forward. 

Emma eventually stopped hiccupping and spread her arms and legs, with her head still resting on the grass. “Oh my god… oh my god…”

Regina wasn’t sure what to make of the entire scene, but seeing Emma like this, in her red leather jacket, bathed in the uniquely soft light of the moon, caused her to take several steps before she caught herself and crossed her arms in front of her chest instead.

“What is the meaning of this?”

As if awaking from a trance Emma abruptly sat up, causing Love to complain quietly while being pushed off of the sheriff.

“I have no idea what just happened!”

Emma looked around herself, her eyes landing on the cabin behind her for a few heartbeats.

“There… there was this wolf! I swear it was there. And it was about to eat me alive, like literally. And all I could think of is that I wanted to see you again, really, that is all I remember, and then suddenly I’m here. No wolf. And you are here…”

Emma took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm herself. She raked both hands through her hair and stared at Regina as if actually seeing her for the first time.

“You’re here! I found you!”

A beautiful smile spread across Emma’s features and she scrambled to her feet. She moved toward Regina but winced in pain when she tried to walk. Her leg seemed to just buckle under her weight, and before Emma even had the chance to fall, Regina was there, both arms securely wrapped around the sheriff.

“Ouch…”

Regina slowly shook her head, barely able to believe that Emma had actually transported herself by using magic without knowing how. That scent of leather and sweet lavender, which she would forever associate with the blonde, floated around her and she helped Emma to stand on her good leg to bring some distance between them.

“What are you doing here?”

Emma smiled again, holding Regina’s questioning gaze.

“I came to find you, but honestly, Love sucks as a woods guide. I admit it wasn’t my brightest idea so far, but at least I’m here now.”

“Why did you come? To arrest me? To lead the townsfolk here?”

Regina took a few small steps back and regarded Emma with narrowed eyes. Three weeks had passed since the curse had been broken and that had given the former mayor more time to think than anyone could have possibly needed. Her magic was slowly returning, bit by bit, and she was only waiting, biding her time, until she was powerful enough to find a way back to the Enchanted Forest. There she could easily build herself a fortress, with walls so high and protected by magic that no one would ever be able to scale them.  
A life in solitude didn’t seem so bad after all. 

Those twenty-eight years had changed her. Henry had changed her. Emma had changed her. Her lust for revenge had dulled, and was replaced with sadness and exhaustion so deep-reaching that she just had no other desire but to be alone. And now Emma shattered her plans once again. She wasn’t trying to harm anyone and yet they came after her. There just seemed to be no forgiveness for her, after all.

Regina glared at Emma, cold flames in her eyes. Her sudden anger manifested as a very dangerous little ball of fire that appeared in her right hand. Emma’s eyes widened, but not with fear.

“I will not be strung up like some low-life thief,” she hissed.

Emma slowly shook her head. “This is not… I’m not…”

Without heeding either the obvious pain in her leg or the fireball in Regina’s hand, Emma walked toward the brunette and in one fluid movement cupped her face with both hands and pulled her into a kiss so soft that the flames of anger were immediately extinguished.

Regina was completely taken by surprise. She stood there, her arms hanging limply by her sides, while Emma’s lips gently moved against hers. It was perfection, addictive in its sweetness and seductive in its honesty.

Emma winced quietly when she tried to stand on both legs to pull Regina closer, but the former mayor placed her hands on Emma’s shoulders and pushed her back.

“I have magic.”

“Uhh… I know, I saw the fireball. It’s pretty awesome actually…”

Emma smiled but Regina shook her head.

“No, I mean I have magic, I can help with your leg.”

Emma raised her eyebrows. “That would be nice actually.”

Regina looked at Emma, really looked at her, and gazed into those gray-green eyes. She found that there was absolutely no malice there. Emma hadn’t come to arrest her, let alone to hurt her in any way. She slowly stepped out of the embrace and draped Emma’s arm across her own shoulders to help the blonde into the small cabin. They didn’t speak until Emma was sitting on the tiny bed inside the cottage. She looked around the single room and eventually just stared at Regina.

“That… you look nice.”

Regina glanced down at her clothes and smiled. When she had first come to Storybrooke she’d had no idea what clothing would look like in this world, so she had simply stocked the cabin with leather pants, boots, blouses and vests – just like those she had worn when she’d been younger.

“Thank you.”

She pulled the dark brown leather vest off her shoulders and dropped it next to Emma on the bed.

“Take off your pants.”

The blonde’s eyes widened almost comically.

“W-what?”

“You have to take off your pants so I can look at your leg.”

“Can’t you use your magic, like, through my jeans?”

Emma gestured with her hands to emphasize the magic part of her sentence.

“I’m afraid not. I won’t ask again.”

“Okay, alright…” Emma muttered, but she really had to struggle with pulling the tight denim over her shapely legs without getting up. 

Watching the display with a smirk, Regina crossed her arms in front of her chest and waited.

“So thank you,” Emma said while freeing the first leg.

Regina was sort of distracted. “Hm… what?”

“For saving my ass from being eaten alive. I swear that wolf was about to bite my head off.”

Regina had completely forgotten about that part and dropped her arms to her sides again.

“I honestly doubt that there are man-eating wolves in this… oh.”

It suddenly occurred to her that now, after magic had returned to the town, there was a certain dangerous beast among them that only appeared on full moon nights.

“But it wasn’t me,” Regina said.

Emma finally managed to get the jeans off completely and dropped them to the floor carelessly.

“What do you mean?”

Regina regarded the sheriff’s black panties with a raised eyebrow, but quickly averted her gaze and returned to blue-grayish eyes looking at her.

“I didn’t bring you here Emma, I had no idea you were out there. It was all you, and your magic.”

Emma’s eyes widened as she released a breath.

“I… I have magic?”

“It seems so.”

Regina slowly shook her head. “I don’t know where exactly you have it from, but it will certainly come in handy one day.”

Without thinking, Regina knelt down in front of Emma and thoughtfully gazed at the injured leg. She lifted her hand and gently traced one of the many scars with her fingertips.  
Emma shivered and diverted her eyes.

“I know it’s not pretty…”

“I always thought your legs were so incredibly enticing,” Regina murmured, effectively interrupting Emma.

The sheriff blushed despite herself and smirked.

“Yeah?”

“Oh yes, and those tight pants had me wanting to see what was beneath on many occasions.”

Regina chuckled darkly and tilted her head to look at Emma. She straightened her upper body until she was almost face to face with the sheriff. She could feel Emma’s breath on her lips and it took only a small movement until their lips met.

Why exactly Emma’s kisses made her feel so wanted, exhilarated and safe at the same time, Regina couldn’t say, but she relished the feeling nonetheless. She rested both hands on Emma’s thigh while her lips moved against the sheriff’s compliant, soft mouth.

It wasn’t exactly easy to summon enough focus for her magic to work, but she eventually felt the warm tingly sensation in her palms. Humming quietly into the kiss she dragged her hands from Emma’s thigh down her entire leg to her ankle, causing the sheriff to moan somewhere in the back of her throat. She repeated the movement three times and flicked her tongue over Emma’s lips in one last possessive gesture before drawing back to regard her handiwork.

The scars on Emma’s leg had not completely vanished, but only very faint white lines remained. Emma stared down at her thigh, seemingly shocked that she had experienced real magic first-hand.

“The pain… it’s gone.”

“Well I certainly hope so, dear. I might not have been the best healer in the kingdom, but my skills should be sufficient in this case.” 

Regina smirked and rose to her feet, only to be pulled down onto the bed a moment later. She was pretty much sitting in Emma’s lap when she sheriff wrapped both arms around her waist.

“Thank you,” Emma mumbled and pressed a soft kiss against Regina’s exposed collarbone.

“I just want you to know that I wasn’t trying to run out on you back in the hospital. It was all too much and I needed a moment to breathe. Already an hour later I wished that I could have talked to you, but Henry said you vanished in a cloud of purple mist. I’m sorry.”

Regina inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, faintly shaking her head. “It’s okay. But you have to know that you were right with what you said, I am the Evil Queen.”

“No Regina, you used to be the Evil Queen. I don’t know who she was, but you are the woman I am in love with, and not some mystical fairytale character. You.”

“Your parents won’t approve, in fact they hate me…”

“As if I care what…” 

Suddenly Regina jerked her head back to stare at Emma.

“What?” she breathed.

Emma raised her eyebrows. “What?”

“You…you said… you just said that you are in love with me…?”

“Oh that, yeah… that uhm… that’s how I feel.”

Regina had to smile at the admission that was so very much like Emma.

“Emma you have no idea what you are getting yourself into.”

She tried to look sternly at the sheriff, as if she was giving her a lecture about how to file away her reports.

“Oh I know what I’m doing, believe me.”

To emphasize her words, Emma leaned forward and captured Regina’s lips in another kiss. This one being just as mind-blowing as the last one. The former mayor knew that she could get used to receiving those kisses, and for the first time in a very long time that didn’t scare her a single bit.

-#-#-#-

“They won’t like it.”

Emma sighed and lifted her head from where it had been resting on Regina’s chest.

“Since when do you care?”

“Since they remember that I cursed them for twenty-eight years and probably want to execute me the moment they see me.”

Regina was starting to lift her upper body, but with a few well-placed kisses Emma soon had her relaxing into the pillows again.

“I won’t let them, I promise. Henry also misses you.”

Emma knew that she was playing dirty by using Henry to convince Regina to return to town with her. She had contacted him during the night to tell him that everything was alright and she would be home in a day or so. Now all she needed to do was coax Regina to leave the cottage, preferably without Emma having to physically drag her through the door.

But due to the fact that she apparently possessed magic herself she might be able to just ‘poof’ them both back.

Emma smiled at her thought and snuggled back into Regina’s side. They had spent the entire night, and half of the morning, just exploring one another with hands, lips and gentle touches. It had been better than anything Emma ever experienced and although she’d thought that Regina was enticing before, now she knew that she was completely addicted. 

That expanse of smooth olive skin was just there for Emma to gaze at and the fact that she was allowed to touch it was more than her mind could take. But she needed to focus. Regina wasn’t anything if not stubborn, that much she knew.

“Does he really?” Regina asked quietly.

The sheriff cleared her throat and nodded.

“Yeah, he really wants to see you again, you’re his mom.”

Regina scooted backward until she was propped up against the headboard.

“But now that he knows that I am indeed the Evil Queen, he might think…”

Emma slowly shook her head and raised her upper body to rest on her elbows.

“He knows just as well as I do that you have changed, and he loves you. I promise you that we will work through this, no matter what.”

Regina smiled at that and reached out to run her fingers through Emma’s blonde tresses.

“Emma Swan, I truly can’t believe what you are doing to me…”

The sheriff leaned into the touch and her eyes fluttered close.

Emma knew that from now on their journey wouldn’t be a walk in the park, far from it really, but with Regina by her side she was confident that they would make it through. They had Henry, and Emma had her parents back. She was with family, she had love, and the future looked just a tad brighter in that moment than ever before.

-#-#-#-

Loved sighed and a tiny smile spread across his usually so unanimated features. Completely disregarding his feline physique, he raised himself up to stand on his hind legs and brushed some sand off his chest with his paws.

“Took them long enough,” he mumbled, silently congratulating himself on the fact that he had helped break the curse that had thrown so many fairytale characters into misery.

He looked back to the cabin one last time, stroking his whiskers with a paw, before walking into the forest. 

“Now, where are my boots?”

________  
The End


End file.
